California 

'gional 

cility 


UNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGELES 


A   CA         A 


CO!  R"S 


BY 

ALEXANDER    BLACK 

Author  of  "  Miss  Jerry  " 


SEVENTEEN  ILLUSTRA 
TIONS  FROM  LIFE  PHOTO 
GRAPHS  BY  THE  AUTHOR 


CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 
NEW  YORK  MDCCCXCVH 


COPYRIGHT,  1897.  BY 

CHARI.HS  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

[AIL  rights  raer-veJ] 


TO 
M.    H.    B. 


2125574 


NOTE 

"  /I  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP/'  like  "Miss 
Jerry,"  was  written  for  oral  delivery  be 
fore  audiences,  and  is  here  much  expanded  and 
otherwise  changed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  hook 
publication.  In  this  fuller  form  the  story,  as  such, 
receives  many  elements  which  in  the  "picture  play  " 
come  within  the  province  of  the  concurrently  used 
pictures. 

The  author  begs  the  privilege  of  expressing  his  ob 
ligation  to  President  Cleveland,  President  McKin- 
ley,  Sir  Julian  Pauncefote,  Speaker  Reed,  Colonel 
Lamont,  Commodore  Melville,  General  Greely,  and 
Professor  Mason,  as  well  as  to  the  many  unofficial 
sitters  whose  courtesy  and  patience  made  possible 
the  new  adventure  in  pictorial  realism  represented 
by  his  second  "picture  play." 

The  illustrations  in  the  present  volume,  selected 
from  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  plates  used  in  the 
"picture  play,"  have  been  chosen  with  a  view  to 
their  individual  interest  as  well  as  to  their  illus 
trative  office. 

June  24,  1897. 


THE  PICTURES 

At  last  when  be  caught  her  band  and  demanded —      Frontispiece 

Facing 
page 

A  man  who  quite  evidently  had  participated  in  the  crash,  4 

"  I've  been  looking  over  the  field  of  the  disaster"   .     .     .  14 

Viola  struck  Mm  full  in  the  face, 24 

Under  that  incomparable  Newport  sky, 26 

The  most  self-possessed  man  in  the  city,  Speaker  Reed. 
(Taken  in  the  Speaker's  Room  at  the  Capitol,  Janu 
ary,  1896), 40 

"  Are  you  a  new  woman"?"  the  Captain  asked,  .    ...    46 

"  You  like  to  tease  me,  don't  you  ?  " 60 

"Hello!"  cried  Mrs.  Arlington,  "there's Jerry,"    .     .     .     64 

The  Secretary  of  War,  Colonel  D.  C.  Lamont.  (Taken 
at  War  Department  Head-quarters,  January,  1896),  .  76 

Commodore  Melville,  Chief  Engineer.    (Taken  at  the  Navy 

Department,  January,  1896), 78 

Sir  Julian  Pauncefote,  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  Am 
bassadorial  circles.  (Taken  at  the  British  Embassy, 

June,  1897), 80 

vii 


THE  PICTURES 


Facing 
page 


President  Cleveland's  message.     (Taken  at  the  Executive 

Mansion,  January,  1896), 82 

One  of  President  McKinley's  first  messages.     (Taken  at 

tbe  Executive  Mansion,  June,  1897), &4 

"  Are  you  feeling  better?" 92 

"  All  right,  Til  go," 94 

He  did  not  appear  to  notice  them, 100 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 


i 


ONE  night  in  the  spring  they  had  a  whist  party 
at  Colonel  Winfield's.  The  whist  mania 
had  been  rather  late  in  reaching  North 
Pines,  but  when  it  came  it  came  with  some  violence, 
and  in  three  months  everyone  in  the  place  was  in 
some  degree  under  the  spell.  In  the  days  when  the 
big  Silsbee  barn  was  turned  into  a  roller-skating 
rink,  Deacon  Harris  had  been  induced  to  go  and  dis 
locate  his  shoulder ;  but  when  whist  came,  even  Par 
son  Atwick  was  heard  asking  whether  whist  was 
anything  like  old  maid,  and  the  Episcopal  rector 
was  positively  known  to  have  expressed  the  opinion 
that  "  second  hand  low  "  is  far  from  being  a  safe 
rule. 

The  difficulty  in  North  Pines  was  that  of  getting 
men  enough  to  go  around  ;  and  it  became  necessary 
on  all  such  occasions  to  label  certain  ladies  who  con- 
i 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

sented  to  facilitate  the  due  balance  of  partnership. 
The  labelling  usually  was  accomplished  with  the  aid 
of  a  handkerchief  tied  about  the  arm — a  kind  of 
inverted  badge  of  mourning  for  the  obliterated  sex. 
There  were  ladies  who  always  took  this  badge  upon 
them.  Miss  Parker,  for  example,  who  taught  in  the 
High  School,  wore  it  by  habit  and  preference,  until 
Dr.  Binsbury  formed  the  practice  of  calling  her 
"  Mr.  Parker,"  and  used  to  tie  the  handkerchief  for 
her  with  a  well-worn  set  of  jokes,  including  the 
comment  that  she  was  not  "  a  perfect  gentleman." 

At  the  time  of  this  Winfield  party  the  epidemic 
was  at  its  height.  The  cookery  class,  the  physical 
culture  club,  and  the  Browning  Society,  all  simply 
had  gone  to  pieces.  It  was  whist  that  regulated  the 
new  social  code.  A  woman  who  was  slow  at  deal 
ing  found  her  most  precious  accomplishments  under 
a  cloud  ;  and  a  man  who  had  trumped  his  partner's 
ace  had  every  immediate  reason  for  wishing  that  he 
never  had  been  born. 

So  that  the  scene  in  the  little  Winfield  parlor  was 
entirely  characteristic  of  the  place  and  the  time. 
That  disproportionate  excitement  which  is  aroused 
by  a  game  of  cards,  and  which  is  at  once  a  eulogy 
and  a  satire  on  the  game,  was  here  accompanied  by 
2 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

much  of  real  human  picturesqueness.  If  the  Colonel's 
interest  fell  far  short  of  a  passion,  that  of  Miss  War 
ner,  who  had  been  spending  a  month  in  Boston,  and 
who  was  introducing  a  new  phase  of  the  game,  arose 
to  the  height  of  religious  fervor.  Dr.  Binsbury,  too, 
took  his  cards  very  seriously.  He  would  much  rather 
have  guessed  his  opponent's  hand  than  his  ailment. 

Perhaps  this  intensity  of  interest  heightened  the 
effect  of  a  crashing  noise  in  the  dooryard  of  the 
house  and  a  perceptible  jarring,  as  if  from  the  vio 
lent  falling  of  some  object  without.  A  unanimous 
gesture  of  alarm  recast  the  outlines  of  the  group  of 
players.  One  of  the  women  near  the  front  windows 
screamed,  and  young  Haines  made  a  peculiar  noise 
in  his  throat. 

Then,  while  a  dozen  voices  were  gasping  some 
variation  of  the  inquiry,  "  What  has  happened  ?  " 
Colonel  Winfield  and  the  Doctor  disappeared  into 
the  hall,  and  in  a  moment  returned,  leading  between 
them  a  man  who  quite  evidently  had  participated  in 
the  crash.  The  Colonel  plainly  wished  to  get  the 
stranger  into  the  light.  "  A  runaway,"  muttered 
the  Doctor,  and  two  of  the  younger  men  slipped  out 
of  the  house. 

The  new-comer  turned  to  Winfield.  "  You  will 
3 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

have  to  excuse  me,  Colonel,  for  so  unceremonious  a 
visit.  I  just  dropped  in,  you  know,  and  I  seemed  to 
land  on  my  head.  The  truth  is,  I  didn't  expect  to 
call  on  you  till  to-morrow." 

"  Didn't  think  I  knew  you,"  said  the  Colonel, 
studying  the  white  face,  perplexedly.  "  Is  he  broken 
anywhere,  Doctor  ? " 

"  No,  seems  not,"  returned  Binsbury,  "  but  1 
guess  he's  pretty  well  shaken  up.  Must  be  made 
comfortable  somewhere  immediately  —  let  me 
see " 

"  Don't  know  me,  Colonel  ?  Don't  remember 
Jack  Gerard  ?  " 

"  Well,  upon  my — Jack,  my  boy,  1  didn't  know 
you,  for  a  fact !  But  look  here !  you're  hurt — Ly- 
die,  see  that  there's  a  room  fixed  for  Mr,  Gerard, 
won't  you  ? " 

"  Hold  on,  Colonel !  I  wouldn't  think  of  bother 
ing  you.  I'm  all  right " 

"  Young  man,"  interposed  Binsbury,  "  I  suppose 
you'll  get  over  this,  but  you  will  please  regard  your 
self  as  somewhat  injured  for  the  present." 

"  At  any  rate,"  remarked  the  new-comer,  grimly, 
"  I  guess  I'm  not  exactly  fit  for  company.  You  see, 
Colonel,  I  was  bound  for  my  uncle's— missed  the 

4 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

train  and  was  driving  over  from  Lawson's  Junction. 
They  told  me  that  the  horse  was  a  trifle  lively  at 
times.  He  was  more  than  lively ;  he  was  riotous. 
What  became  of  him  ?  " 

"  Repenting  at  a  tree  down  the  road,"  reported 
young  Haines. 

"  Look  here,  Gerard,"  said  the  Colonel,  authorita 
tively,  "  you'll  stay  right  here.  You've  got  lots  of 
sand ;  you  always  had ;  but  that  horse  smashed  my 
front  fence  with  you,  and  you  want  time  for  medita 
tion.  Come,  the  Doctor  and  I  will  help  you  upstairs." 

The  victim  of  the  runaway  made  as  if  to  start  off 
toward  the  door  on  his  own  account,  but  with  a 
grim  smile  that  was  half  a  wince  he  accepted  the 
support  of  Winfield's  arm,  and  those  who  remained 
behind  heard  his  step  falter  on  the  stair. 

"  Mercy !  "  exclaimed  Miss  Moseley,  "  you  don't 
mean  to  tell  me  that  is  our  Jack  Gerard !  Why,  he 
was  a  dreadfully  plain  boy." 

"  I'm  afraid  we'll  have  to  deal  again,"  Miss  War 
ner  was  saying,  with  great  severity,  at  the  table  near 
the  piano. 

"  Ellen !  "    ejaculated    Miss    Warner's    mother. 
"  How  can  you  think  of  the  game  after — why,  do 
you  know,  I'm  all  upset !  " 
5 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  Anyway,"  said  young  Haines  to  Miss  Winfield, 
"  we  can't  go  on  without  your  father,  your  aunt,  and 
the  Doctor."  Which  seemed  to  be  true,  for  the 
company  forsook  the  cards  in  the  climax  of  Miss 
Warner's  experiment  with  the  new  phase.  Miriam 
Winfield  and  three  or  four  others  went  out  to  in 
spect  the  broken  buggy,  Miss  Warner's  mother  set 
tled  down  to  reminiscences  of  runaways,  and  Miss 
Moseley  was  conscious  of  an  unvoiced  query  as  to 
how  far  the  accident  might  affect  the  question  of  re 
freshments. 

The  Colonel  came  down  to  protest  against  an 
early  dispersion,  but  even  the  agreeable  entertain 
ment  in  the  dining-room  did  not  banish  the  feeling 
that  it  would  be  appropriate  to  go  early. 

"  I'm  glad  it  was  only  the  buggy  that  was  broken, 
Gerard,"  said  the  Colonel,  when  he  returned  to  the 
guest's  room  later  in  the  evening.  "  How  are  you 
feeling  now — better  get  to  bed,  hey  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  worry  about  me,  Colonel.  The 
scratch  on  the  head  doesn't  amount  to  anything. 
This  bruise  on  the  hand  is  about  all  I  have  to  com 
plain  of,  and  the  Doctor  has  been  very  clever  with 
that." 

The  Colonel  had  taken  a  seat  tentatively. 
6 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP  • 

Gerard  went  on:  "  I've  just  been  grinning  to  my 
self  over  my  arrival  in  your  company.  Quite  like 
a  comic  opera  entrance,  wasn't  it  ?  " 

"  Came  near  being  a  tragedy,  my  boy.  Yes,  sir, 
you  might  try  that  ninety-nine  more  times  and  not 
have  the  joke  on  the  fence  again." 

"  Sheer  luck,"  said  Gerard,  making  some  experi 
mental  passes  with  his  arms  that  seemed  to  confirm 
his  faith  in  his  shoulders. 

"  Now  that  I  come  to  look  at  you,"  remarked  the 
Colonel,  "  you  are  getting  to  be  of  age,  aren't  you  ? 
Let's  see ;  how  long  is  it  since  you  left  here  ?  " 

"  Seven  years." 

"  Well,  well !  is  it  so  long  ?  Then  you  must 
be " 

"  Thirty,  Colonel ;  not  a  day  less." 

"  You  don't  say !  But  that's  a  fact,  you  were  a 
grown  man  when  you  left  here  for  Illinois.  Is  that 
bandage  of  yours  comfortable  ?  .  .  .  And  what 
have  you  been  doing,  Gerard  ?  " 

"  Hustling  most  of  the  time." 

"  Yes,  I've  no  doubt ;  I  should  have  expected  that 
to  be  in  your  line." 

"  Eternal  hustle  is  the  price  of  progress,  Col 
onel." 

7 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  And  where  have  you  hustled  yourself  to  ?  "  the 
Colonel  asked,  with  something  of  the  quizzical  scru 
tiny  of  an  older  man. 

"  Well,  incidentally  into  Congress,  if  you  want  a 
bill  of  particulars." 

"  No,  Gerard !  —  you're  joking ! " 

"  Fact." 

"  Then  we're  going  to  be  confreres,  my  boy." 

"  What !  you,  too,  Colonel  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir.  I  never  expected  any  such  thing ;  but 
it  sort  o'  came  my  way,  and  I  let  it  come.  It's  a 
mighty  interesting  game,  politics,  whether  you  win 
or  lose.  And  so  you're  elected  from  Illinois  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  I'm  afraid  I'm  going  to  feel  pretty  lone 
some.  There  are  not  many  of  us  in  the  next  Con 
gress." 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say " 

"  Yes,  Colonel,  Democratic." 

"Gerard!  and  you  such  a  promising  boy!" 
Gerard  laughed  heartily.  "  What  would  your  father 
have  said — your  father,  who  was  the  leading  Re 
publican  of  this  county  for  twenty  years !  " 

"  It  is  too  bad,  Colonel,  when  you  look  at  it  his 
torically  ;  but  looking  at  it  practically " 

There  was  a  knock  at  the  door.  "  Father!"  came 
8 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

Miriam's  voice,  "  don't  you  think  you  had  better  let 
Mr.  Gerard  get  some  rest  ?  " 

"  Looking  at  this  practically,"  said  Winfield,  "  I 
guess  that  suggestion  is  good." 

"  Don't  make  an  invalid  of  me,"  the  younger  man 
protested. 

"  At  any  rate,  Gerard,  I  wouldn't  worry  about 
that  political  point  to-night,  anyway,  if  I  were  you. 
Your  good  behavior  will  be  a  great  extenuating  cir 
cumstance  with  me !  " 

"  Good-night,  Colonel !  " 

"  Good -night !  " 

Gerard  felt  that  after  all  life  was  not  wholly  des 
titute  of  the  picturesque.  The  manner  of  his  en 
trance  upon  the  scenes  of  his  boyhood  was  altogeth 
er  different  from  anything  that  he  might  have 
expected.  He  found  his  hand  trembling  a  little  as  he 
lighted  a  cigarette.  Perhaps  the  stimulated  condi 
tion  of  his  nerves  made  thoughts  of  the  past  partic 
ularly  vivid.  Even  a  trifling  accident  like  this  could 
make  a  man  think  of  what  might  have  happened. 
He  remembered  a  day  when  he  lay  on  his  back  on 
the  Yale  field,  with  a  dislocated  shoulder,  excitedly 
ordering  his  companions  of  the  rush  line  to  let  him 
alone,  that  he  would  be  uil  right  in  a  minute.  There 
9 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

were  ruptured  tendons,  and  he  was  not  all  right  in  a 
minute,  nor  in  a  month.  But  these  things  are  ac 
cepted  in  college  days.  They  are  part  of  the  training. 

In  the  morning  Gerard  found  himself  scarcely  the 
worse  for  his  mishap  of  the  night  before.  Save  for 
the  bruised  hand  and  a  stiffness  in  one  arm  he  was 
so  far  free  from  damage,  that  he  made  up  his  mind 
to  get  over  to  his  uncle's  before  noon. 

When  he  came  downstairs  he  discovered  no  sign 
of  life  in  the  sitting-room,  but  peering  into  the  din 
ing-room  he  found  Miriam,  in  a  fluttering  house- 
gown,  at  work  over  the  table,  and  saw  the  silhouette 
of  Aunt  Lydie  Jane  in  the  kitchen  beyond. 

"  Why,  Mr.  Gerard  !  how  you  frightened  me !  " 
The  girl  had  started  visibly. 

"  I  didn't  mean  it.  You  will  pardon  my  curiosity. 
But  I  felt  lonesome  out  here." 

"  But  aren't  you  ill,  or  broken,  or  something  ?  " 

"  No ;  I'm  all  right.  You  seem  almost  disap 
pointed." 

"  Well,  I  was  sure  you  would  be  worse  in  the 
morning.  People  don't  always  know  how  badly 
they  are  hurt  in  the  first  excitement.  Excuse  my 
going  ahead  with  the  table." 

"  If  you  will  let  me  help." 
10 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  You  see  our  girl  became  engaged  to  be  married 
last  night  while  we  were  playing  whist  and  while 
you  were  breaking  our  fence.  She's  to  be  married 
this  morning,  and  is  going  on  her  wedding  tour  this 
afternoon." 

"  These  things  always  do  seem  so  sudden." 

"  It's  awkward,  anyway,  for  it's  awfully  hard  to 
get  a  new  girl  here." 

"  What's  the  matter  with  your  clock  ?  "  Gerard 
had  stooped  with  both  hands  full  upon  hearing  a 
faint  guttural  sound  from  the  mantel. 

"  None  of  us  can  find  out.  It's  the  funniest  clock  in 
the  world.  We  discovered  that  it  wouldn't  go  unless 
it  was  tipped  up  that  way  and  had  the  door  open." 

"  Evidently  wants  lots  of  air.  Seems  as  if  it  was  get 
ting  ready  to  strike  or  do  something."  After  further 
guttural  noises  that  culminated  in  a  sound  resembling 
a  politely  muffled  sneeze,  the  clock  did  strike  three. 

"  It  always  strikes  three  when  it  means  eight," 
laughed  Miriam. 

Gerard  stared  at  the  clock,  which  had  the  angle  of 
the  Tower  of  Pisa,  with  affected  awe.  "  What  a 
beautiful  training  in  mathematics  a  clock  like  that 
must  afford  in  a  family." 

"  Put  those  plates  here,"  directed  the  girl ;  "  it's  a 
11 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

miracle  you  didn't  drop  them  all,  carrying  them  like 
that,  though  I  suppose  I  shouldn't  scold  you  with 
that  bandaged  hand." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  mind  doing  an  occasional  miracle," 
observed  the  Congressman-elect,  still  affecting  to  be 
fascinated  by  the  clock,  "  just  to  keep  my  hand  in — 
that  is  to  say,  the  other  hand,  of  course.  Do  you 
know  that  timepiece  there  makes  me  think  of  a  man 
out  in  Makanda  who  married  a  little  woman  not 
more  than  four  feet  high.  He  grew  over  that  way 
trying  to  be  sociable  when  they  walked  together." 

"  Why  didn't  she  walk  on  the  other  side  some 
times  ? " 

"  There  was  the  trouble ;  his  good  ear  was  on  that 
side." 

Miriam  laughed  again  until  her  heaps  of  saucers 
rattled. 

"  Careful  there  !  "  exclaimed  Gerard.  "  Now  that 
you've  got  me  interested  in  this  show,  I  don't  want 
to  see  anything  broken." 

"  That  favorite  attitude  of  the  clock,"  remarked 
Miriam,  "  always  makes  me  think  of  father's  hat." 

"  I  can't  see  how." 

"  Well,  you  know  that  when  father  has  his  hat  on 
straight  you  simply  can't  do  anything  with  him. 
12 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

But  let  him  have  it  tipped  up  a  little  on  one  side, 
and  you  can — own  him !  His  hat  is  a  perfect  ba 
rometer  of  his  feelings." 

"  That's  funnier  than  the  clock,  isn't  it  ?  Where 
shall  I  put  this  dish  ?  " 

"  There's  father  now.  He's  in  a  good-humor  this 
morning.  1  can  tell  by  his  step  without  waiting  to 
si'e  his  hat." 

"  Well,  I  want  to  know,  Gerard !  "  The  Colonel 
swung  into  the  door-way  with  his  hands  in  the 
pockets  of  his  walking-coat.  "  I  thought  you  were 
in  bed,  where  you  ought  to  be,  I  suspect,  and  I 
wouldn't  call  you." 

"  Nonsense,  Colonel.    Do  I  look  damaged  ?  " 

"  No  ;  can't  say  you  do — and  you  surprise  me. 
But  be  careful.  I  hope  this  isn't  a  bluff.  A  bluff  is 
all  right  in  politics,  Gerard,  but  don't  try  it  with 
your  doctor,  or  your  head  nurse.  I've  been  out  for 
a  constitutional,"  the  Colonel  went  on  when  they 
had  begun  breakfast.  "  Been  looking  over  the  field 
of  the  disaster.  When  you  come  to  see  our  front 
garden-bed,  Gerard,  you'll  realize  that  you  have 
made  a  great  impression  here." 

"  I'm  sorry,"  Gerard  returned,  with  a  twinkle, 
"  that  circumstances  prevented  me  from  making  a 
13 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

more  modest  approach.  But  I  mustn't  abuse  your 
hospitality.  I  shall  have  to  ask  you  to  drive  me  over 
to  my  uncle's  this  morning." 

"  Hold  on,  young  man  !  Can't  you  stop  hustling 
for  a  little  while  ?  Don't  be  in  such  a  steaming 
hurry.  I  want  to  talk  politics  with  you  for  a  while." 

"  Please  don't,"  urged  Miriam. 

"  I  suppose  you  think  it  might  be  dangerous," 
suggested  the  visitor. 

"  Oh,  we  are  not  likely  to  be  explosive,  are  we, 
Gerard  ?  And  she  must  get  used  to  it  before  we 
go  to  Washington." 

Miriam  declared  her  impatience  for  the  coming  of 
December.  "  I  wonder  if  you  men  are  as  eager  to 
go  as  I  am.  It  will  be  great  fun." 

Aunt  Lydie  Jane  was  quietly  smiling  her  assent  to 
this  suggestion.  She  was  thinking  of  the  relics  and 
souvenirs  she  anticipated  picking  up  at  the  capital. 

"  You  really  must  give  Aunt  Lydie  a  souvenir  of 
your  accident,  Mr.  Gerard,"  said  Miriam,  mischiev 
ously,  "  unless  you  wish  to  force  her  to  be  content 
with  a  little  button  which  she  picked  up  out  there  by 
the  front  fence." 

"  Hush,  Miriam  !  "  protested  Aunt  Lydie,  over 
her  coffee. 

14 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  By  the  way,  Colonel,"  said  Gerard,  who  had 
been  studying  Miriam's  finely  cut  face,  "  I  haven't 
asked  after  your  other  daughter,  Miss — Viola." 

Gerard  had  scarcely  spoken  when  he  became 
aware  that  he  had  touched  an  unwelcome  theme. 

"  Miss  Viola  is  not  at  home  just  now,"  the  Colonel 
began,  and  Miriam  contrived  to  change  the  direction 
of  the  talk.  "  You  have  scarcely  eaten  anything  this 
morning,  father,"  Miriam  said,  a  little  later.  "  I 
don't  believe  you  will  be  entirely  normal  again  until 
you  have  talked  politics  with  Mr.  Gerard  for  at  least 
three  consecutive  hours." 

"  As  for  that  matter,"  said  the  gentleman  from  Illi 
nois,  "  I'm  afraid  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts 
will  find  me  rather  tame." 

"  Am  I  to  conclude,  Gerard,  that  you  are  not  go 
ing  to  demand  a  chairmanship  from  Mr.  Reed  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Colonel,  I'm  going  to  be  modest  by  force  of 
circumstances.  Now,  it  will  be  a  good  deal  harder 
for  you,  in  the  majority,  to  be  as  truly  modest  and 
retiring  as  I  expect  to  be,  natural  as  that  impulse 
might  be  to  you  under  other  conditions.  Hello! 
there's  Uncle  Morris!  " 

A  nimble,  elderly  man  in  a  gray  suit  was  hitch 
ing  his  horse  in  front  of  the  house. 
15 


I! 


JACK  GERARD'S  arrival  in  North  Pines  occa 
sioned  considerable  talk  on  the  day  follow 
ing  the  accident. 

The  members  of  the  whist  party  naturally  exhib 
ited  an  especial  solicitude  in  the  case.  Even  Miss 
Warner,  who  had  been  not  a  little  disconcerted  by 
the  incompleteness  of  her  experiment  in  whist,  had 
acquired  some  anxiety  over  night,  and  was  actually 
eager  in  her  inquiries  as  to  Gerard's  condition  ;  and 
Miss  Moseley,  who  had  secreted  her  regret  that  the 
refreshments  should  have  been  hurried,  solicitously 
assailed  a  carriage  which  she  mistook  for  Dr.  Bins- 
bury's,  but  which  turned  out  to  be  another  with 
Gerard  and  his  uncle  inside. 

Randy  Ellis,  who  was  questioned  frequently  as 
much  for  the  flavor  of  his  opinions  as  for  the  ex 
actness  of  his  information,  was  stopped  at  least 
three  times  on  his  way  down  to  Main  Street  by 
people  who  wanted  to  know  whether  it  really  was 

16 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

true  that  Gerard  had  both  legs  and  one  arm 
broken. 

"  Who  said  that  ?  "  demanded  Randy.  "  Why 
didn't  they  say  the  other  arm,  too  ?  If  that  feller's 
as  strong  as  he  was  when  he  licked  me  for  turnin' 
loose  his  father's  trottin'  mare,  yer  couldn't  muss  him 
up  by  droppin'  him  off  the  M.  E.  Church !  I'll  bet 
it  was  Hackett  said  that.  Y'  know,  it  sounds  like 
Hackett.  Some  people  bother  yer  because  they  lie 
sometimes.  But  Hackett,  he's  lyin'  all  the  time. 
Yer  kin  depend  on  him."  And  Randy  went  on  his 
way  again,  whistling  a  monotonous,  meaningless 
tune,  that  began  nowhere  and  ended  in  the  same 
place.  Randy's  whistle  was  part  of  him.  It  was 
impossible  to  think  of  him  without  it. 

Randy's  philosophy  was,  in  some  respects,  supe 
rior  to  his  talents  as  a  farmer.  At  least  his  father, 
a  matured  edition  of  the  same  lank  and  angular  form, 
was  in  the  habit  of  expressing  his  convictions  to  this 
effect.  An  immediate  result  of  Randy's  habits  of 
thought  was  his  discontent  with  North  Pines  as  a 
point  of  vantage  for  an  outlook  upon  life. 

Indeed,  it  was  well  understood  by  everyone  in 
North  Pines  that  Randy  intended  to  break  away 
some  day  and  do  something  heroic.  During  the 

17 


A  CAPITAL   COURTSHIP 

winter,  while  he  was  learning  to  set  type  for  the 
North  Pines  Patriot,  he  first  declared  his  intention  of 
going  to  sea  on  one  of  Uncle  Sam's  war-ships. 

"  Seems  to  me,"  Randy  said,  "  as  if  that's  about 
the  cheapest  way  of  gettin'  around  and  seein'  some- 
thin'."  And  when  the  spring  set  in  he  began  to 
take  on  the  air  of  one  who  is  soon  to  depart.  When 
he  learned  that  Gerard  was  a  Congressman-elect,  he 
found  occasion  to  call  on  the  newcomer,  and  to  in 
form  him,  as  he  had  Winfield,  of  his  ambition  to 
serve  the  nation  in  another  department.  The  visit 
which  accomplished  this  purpose  was  made  ostensi 
bly  for  inquiry  as  to  Gerard's  hurts,  of  which  Randy 
made  circumstantial  report  to  all  questioners  before 
the  afternoon  had  set  in. 

"  That  man's  almost  as  good  as  new  already," 
Randy  remarked  to  the  Colonel,  whom  he  found 
superintending  repairs  on  the  courtyard  fence. 

Winfield  welcomed  the  news. 

"  You'll  have  a  bill  agin  him  for  this  ? — or  maybe 
agin  the  livery  man,  hey  ?  "  and  Randy  shook  his 
lofty  shoulders. 

Aunt  Lydie  Jane  was  stealing  a  few  minutes  at  a 
book  from  which  she  was  intermittently  diverted  by 
the  fence. 

18 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

Miriam  Winfield  bent  over  her  shoulder  at  the 
window.  "  What  are  you  reading,  Aunt  Lydie, 
'  When  His  Hair  Turned  Gray  ? ' — why,  you  were 
reading  that  a  month  ago !  " 

"  Yes,  Miriam,  but,  you  know,  I  read  very  slowly. 
And  when  it  gets  exciting  I  always  fall  asleep  and 
lose  the  place.  Besides,  I  can't  seem  to  keep  my 
attention  on  the  book  to-day.  It  seems  as  if  ever 
since  breakfast  I  haven't  been  able  to  get  Viola  out 
of  my  head." 

Gerard's  inquiry  and  her  father's  distress  had  re 
turned  to  Miriam  many  times  during  the  day,  calling 
up  as  they  had  the  image  of  her  absent  sister. 

Viola !  Throughout  the  whole  of  her  life  Miri 
am's  sister  had  been  to  her  a  personality,  strange, 
unreadable,  unreachable.  They  had  not,  indeed, 
been  uncompanionable  in  the  early  days,  when  they 
had  romped  together  with  no  more,  perhaps,  than  the 
usual  number  of  little  sisterly  quarrels,  their  minds 
less  frequently  at  variance  than  at  a  later  time  when 
the  peculiar,  stormy,  unmanageable  nature  of  Viola 
began,  as  it  seemed,  to  isolate  her. 

To  Miriam  few  memories  were  more  painful  than 
those  of  scenes  between  Viola  and  her  father.  As 
Viola  approached  womanhood  something  akin  to  an 
19 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

antipathy  grew  up  between  father  and  daughter. 
Each  had  that  facility  in  misunderstanding  the  other 
which  contributes  so  much  to  the  misery  of  people 
whose  incompatibility  often  seems  wholly  blame 
less. 

Winfield  found  no  comfort  in  the  discovery  that 
Viola  repeated  the  tempestuous  personality  of  her 
mother.  Eugenie  Guymard,  whom  Winfield  married 
in  1872,  was  the  daughter  of  an  officer  in  the  service 
of  the  Compagnie  Generale  Transatlantique,  and  an 
English  woman  who  married  Guymard  at  Havre, 
and  afterward  separated  from  her  husband,  taking 
her  child  with  her  to  Southampton.  When  Eugenie 
was  five  years  old  her  father  died,  and  her  mother 
then  married  an  English  jeweller  named  Westwick, 
who  brought  them  to  the  United  States. 

Winfield 's  marriage  was  called  romantic,  doubtless 
because  Miss  Eugenie  was  a  pretty  foreigner;  for 
there  was  little  that  was  romantic  in  the  circum 
stances  attending  the  making  of  the  match,  unless 
this  element  may  be  found  in  the  suddenness  with 
which  Winfield  made  up  his  mind  that  he  was  very 
much  in  love,  and  in  the  precipitation  with  which  he 
communicated  the  fact  to  the  young  lady.  Winfield 
was  always  a  handsome  man.  Miss  Eugenie  thought 
20 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

he  was  the  handsomest  man  she  had  seen  in  America. 
They  met  and  married  in  Boston. 

The  five  years  preceding  Mrs.  Winfield's  death  in 
1877  were  years  in  which  Winfield  learned  to  marvel 
at  the  distressing  degree  in  which  charm  and  acerbity 
may  alternate  in  a  woman.  Eugenie  frankly  hated 
all  of  her  neighbors.  North  Pines,  which  began  by 
thinking  her  impractical,  ended  by  regarding  her  as 
a  species  of  morose  tigress,  elegantly  savage,  and  al 
ways  unavailable. 

The  two  daughters  presented  one  of  those  con 
trasts  that  tease  and  delight  students  of  heredity.  If 
Miriam  reflected  the  character  of  her  father,  the 
elder  sister  as  emphatically  reincarnated  the  spirit  of 
her  mother.  Twice  while  a  mere  child  Viola  had  left 
home,  to  return  again  as  fitfully  and  inexplicably  as 
she  had  gone.  Winfield  came  to  dread  punishing 
her  in  any  manner  for  an  offence  lest  she  should  com 
mit  some  retaliatory  act. 

In  the  autumn,  just  before  the  Colonel's  nomina 
tion  for  Congress,  and  two  or  three  days  after  a 
quarrel  with  her  father,  Viola  went  away  for  a  third 
time,  sending  word  that  she  had  taken  a  position  as 
governess  in  a  New  York  family.  Her  fragmentary 
letters  during  the  winter  were  sent  to  Miriam.  They 
21 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

presented  a  strangely  incomplete  reflection  of  her 
state  of  mind. 

On  the  evening  when  Gerard  came  to  say  that  he 
was  going  back  to  Illinois,  Miriam  told  him  of  a  let 
ter  from  Viola,  saying  that  the  Chilton  family  was  go 
ing  to  Newport  in  July;  and  the  first  letter  from 
Newport  was  singularly  cheerful.  It  also  was  notable 
as  containing  this  passage  :  "  I  hope  father  is  well." 

Viola  enjoyed  her  life  with  the  Chilton  children, 
who  gave  many  signs  of  their  affection  for  her.  She 
had  the  faculty  often  owned  by  isolated  natures  of 
winning  the  sympathy  of  the  young.  Little  Arthur 
heard  her  stories  with  breathless  interest  and  admira 
tion.  When  she  said :  "  And  so  the  giant  took  his 
knotted  stick  and  strode  down  the  side  of  the  moun 
tain,"  his  eyes  fixed  themselves  upon  hers  in  the 
profoundest  flattery  of  attention ;  while  Marjorie, 
grown  to  be  twelve,  but  still  under  the  spell  of  primi 
tive  romance,  would  ask  with  an  eager  concern  that 
had  in  it  more  than  curiosity,  but  something  also  of 
reverence  for  the  gentle  wizard  who  invoked  the 
dryads  and  the  cavaliers,  "  And  did  the  Prince  come 
back  again  ?  " 

At  Newport,  as  elsewhere,  Viola  was  seized  by 
moods  in  which  all  rule,  habit,  and  association  be- 

22 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

came  intolerable.  Under  these  impulses  she  fled 
to  the  bluffs.  In  the  solitude  of  certain  favorite 
turns  in  the  cliff  path  she  could  enjoy  the  wind  and 
the  smell  of  the  sea  and  the  surf  symphony  that 
wafted  itself  softly  upward  through  the  salty  air. 
Oftentimes  she  clambered  to  a  far  point  of  the  rocks 
and  brooded  there  motionless  with  hair  unbound,  like 
some  sombre  spirit  of  the  deep.  In  the  exultation  of 
those  hours  she  loved  to  look  the  ocean  in  the  eye, 
and  let  the  spray  sting-  her  face ;  to  peer  far  sea 
ward  when  no  living  thing  was  in  sight,  and  to  feel 
the  intoxication  of  being  supremely  alone. 

One  day  in  August,  when  the  children  wished  her 
to  "play  queen  "  with  them,  and  while  she  sat  in  the 
little  blue  sitting-room  with  a  rough  wreath  of  flow 
ers  on  her  head,  and  Arthur  and  Marjorie  filling  the 
remaining  roles  of  prince  and  princess,  a  shadow  fell 
across  the  curtained  doorway  opening  upon  the  ve 
randa,  and  Viola  became  conscious  that  a  man  in  a 
golf  suit  was  staring  fixedly  at  her. 

Count  Rudolf,  an  Austrian  of  uncertain  connec 
tions,  veneered  by  Paris,  a  hanger-on  among  the 
foreign  legations  at  Washington,  and  variously  re 
ported  as  a  military  spy,  a  tariff  propagandist,  and 
an  ordinary  social  mountebank,  was  enjoying  his 
23 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

first  impressions  of  Newport.  He  was  enjoying  them 
frankly  as  his  habit  was.  He  studied  Viola  as  he 
would  have  studied  the  Chiltons'  trotter  in  harness. 

When  the  children  scampered  away  at  the  sound 
of  carriage-wheels  on  the  gravel  path,  the  Count 
glanced  obliquely  across  the  veranda,  and  then  re 
marked  to  Viola,  who  was  gathering  up  the  flowers, 
that  she  was  a  very  pretty  girl ;  a  fragment  of  in 
formation  which  Viola  received  with  an  impassive 
silence  that  puzzled  him. 

"  Very  pretty — indeed,"  continued  the  Count, 
strolling  into  the  room.  When  he  touched  her,  Vi 
ola  struck  him  full  in  the  face  with  a  force  so  clearly 
indicative  of  real  anger  that  the  Count  for  once  lost 
even  the  mask  of  self-possession,  and  could  not  find 
a  word  until  she  had  left  him  standing  there  tingling 
under  the  blow. 

When  Arthur  came  back  a  moment  later  he  saw 
the  Count  pick  up  a  yellow  rose  that  lay  near  the 
middle  of  the  floor. 

For  half  an  hour  a  glittering  stream  of  carriages 
had  been  moving  in  the  direction  of  the  Casino. 
Viola,  escaping  unobserved  from  the  western  gate  of 
the  Chilton  grounds,  followed  the  procession  with  a 
purposeless  step.  Her  face  was  still  hot  with  anger. 

24 


Viola  struck  him  full  in  the  face. 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

It  was  the  day  of  the  semi-finals  in  the  yearly 
tennis  championship  matches.  A  cloudy  morning 
had  been  followed  by  a  brilliant  noon.  Under  that 
incomparable  Newport  sky  the  gowns  of  the  most 
extravagantly  dressed  women  in  the  world  lost  noth 
ing  of  that  theatrical  splendor  which  society  permits 
itself  to  create  at  the  crisis  of  each  season. 

The  grand-stand  was  crowded.  There  was  a  ka 
leidoscopic  shimmer  of  color,  the  hum  and  flutter  of 
fashionable  life.  A  few  moments  before  the  game 
began  Mrs.  Chilton  and  her  daughters  made  their 
way  to  seats  on  the  fourth  tier. 

As  Mrs.  Chilton  adjusted  herself  she  suddenly 
turned  and  stared  at  the  person  on  her  left. 

"  Viola !  you  here ! "  she  almost  gasped,  in  her 
astonishment.  The  Chilton  girls  leaned  forward  to 
stare  with  bewilderment  at  the  governess.  For  a 
moment  Mrs.  Chilton  was  stupefied  with  anger  and 
embarrassment. 

The  elder  Miss  Chilton  muttered,  "  How  ridicu 
lous  !  "  and  her  sister  leaned  over  to  ask,  "  Did  you 
say  she  might  come  ?  "  But  Mrs.  Chilton  appeared 
to  hear  neither  of  them. 

At  this  moment  Viola  turned  her  inscrutable  face, 
and  said,  quietly,  "  I  am  no  longer  the  governess." 
25 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  I  could  have  told  you  that,"  returned  Mrs.  Chil- 
ton.  And  neither  spoke  another  word. 

There  was  a  cheer  from  the  crowd.  Neal  had 
made  a  superb  return,  and  was  offering  brilliant  op 
position  to  an  adversary  who  seemed  to  pervade  the 
entire  region  beyond  the  net.  The  white  spheres 
flew  back  and  forth  between  the  two  combatants, 
who,  with  every  nerve  strained,  and  dripping  in  the 
heat  of  the  struggle,  were  fighting  a  modern  bloodless 
battle  with  all  of  the  intensity  that  could  have  marked 
the  tournaments  of  old. 

But  it  was  to  Hovey  that  the  victory  was  to  go — 
Hovey,  before  whom,  three  days  later,  the  champion 
fell  in  an  exciting  conflict  of  agility  that  aroused  the 
gloved  enthusiasm  of  all  Newport. 

When  it  is  all  over  in  a  discordant  murmur,  punct 
uated  with  shouts,  a  clatter  of  heels  on  the  grand 
stand,  a  swish  of  silk,  a  grotesque  dissolving  of  the 
kaleidoscopic  colors,  a  babel  of  talk  on  the  lawn,  and 
a  rumbling  of  wheels  on  the  avenue,  Viola  is  hurry 
ing  back  to  the  house,  from  which,  in  the  early 
morning  of  the  following  day,  she  started  for  home. 


26 


Ill 


THE  home-coming  of  Viola  was  a  momentous 
event  in  the  Winfield  household.  Character 
istically,  it  was  an  unheralded  return  on  the 
part  of  the  absent  daughter.  Although  Miriam  had 
long  anticipated  her  sister's  coming,  it  was  quite  im 
possible  to  guess  when  she  might  appear  at  North 
Pines. 

When  Miriam  clasped  her  sister  at  the  gate,  in  the 
late  afternoon  of  that  autumn  day,  it  was  with  moist 
eyes,  and  a  quiver  of  happiness,  whose  quality  could 
be  understood  only  by  one  who  knew  the  history  of 
their  lives. 

The  Colonel's  delight  made  it  hard  for  him  to 
speak.  He  withheld  no  sign  of  that  delight,  avoiding 
only  any  allusion  to  the  past,  which  by  instinctive 
agreement  remained  unvoiced  among  them,  except 
in  so  far  as  Viola  herself  might  choose  to  speak. 

"  What  a  jolly  winter  we  shall  have  together  in 
Washington  !  "  exclaimed  Winfield.  "  We'll  be 

27 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

great  chums  together,  and  go  everywhere  and  see 
everything,  and— 

"  And  listen  to  daddy's  speeches  in  the  House," 
said  Miriam. 

"  Better  not  count  on  those.  At  any  rate  I  should 
be  a  useful  Congressman  with  two  such  able  coun 
sellors." 

The  picture  of  the  two  sisters,  of  Miriam's  open 
happiness  and  of  Viola's  quieter  content,  was  one 
that  long  lingered  in  the  Colonel's  memory.  The 
way  of  life  now  seemed  a  little  smoother  and  sim 
pler. 

The  father's  happiness  in  Viola's  return  was  indi 
cated  in  many  ways.  He  took  up  riding  again  be 
cause  she  loved  the  horse,  and  she  was  gayer  and 
chattier  with  him  than  he  had  known  her  to  be  in 
recent  years.  They  made  long  excursions  into  the 
rolling  country.  There  was  no  jealousy  in  the  feel 
ing  with  which  Miriam  watched  them  ride  away. 
Pleasure  in  the  reunion  dominated  every  other  im 
pulse. 

Winfield  and  Viola  talked  of  many  things  on  these 
long  rides.  Sometimes  the  Colonel  began  to  think 
he  understood  her  better  than  he  ever  had  before. 
There  were  depths  in  her  nature  that  he  never  hoped 

28 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

to  fathom.  She  was  too  much  like  her  mother  to 
be  explicable.  Her  personality  seemed  to  illustrate 
the  tritest  cynicisms  as  to  the  paradoxes  of  femi 
ninity.  Miriam  was  not  at  all  complex.  There  was 
a  New  England  straightness  in  the  logic  and  manner 
of  her  life.  She  was  not  a  prude ;  but  she  was  pru 
dent.  She  had  force  without  being  severe,  and  all 
the  charm  of  one  who  is  original  without  eccentricity. 
In  Viola  there  was  a  singular  contrast  to  this  sim 
plicity.  She  had  that  fascination  which  we  some 
times  find  in  eyes  with  a  slight  cast.  Her  contralto 
laugh  piqued  the  imagination,  and  even  her  silence 
had  a  quality  of  personal  meaning. 

"  Viola,"  said  Winfield  one  day,  when  they  were 
off  on  one  of  her  favorite  roads,  "  do  you  know  that 
I  have  almost  stopped  being  lonesome  any  more  ?  " 
"  I'm  glad  of  that.  1  have  never  been  happier." 
The  acknowledgment  was  borne  out  by  her  own 
demeanor,  which  had  begun  to  seem  less  quiet,  though 
she  still  fell  into  reveries  in  which  she  seemed  to  for 
get  that  he  was  with  her ;  and  he  could  fall  behind, 
watching  her  graceful  silhouette  against  the  gray- 
green  and  purple  of  the  road-vista,  and  admitting 
her  infirmities  of  impulse  with  the  softened  resent 
ment  of  an  old  sorrow. 

29 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

To  Viola  herself  there  came  something  like  real 
peace.  The  autumn  suited  her  mood.  It  had  no 
sadness  for  her,  but  only  a  kind  of  finished  quiet. 
The  summer  always  seemed  noisy  and  effusive,  while 
in  the  gray  stillness  preceding  the  storms  of  winter 
came  the  deep,  silent,  thoughtful  interval  of  the  year. 
Viola  looked  into  the  depths  of  that  silence  with 
questions  that  were  not  mixed  with  impatience.  She 
yielded  herself  to  its  soothing  spell,  and  when  she 
was  utterly  alone  dreamed  day-dreams  of  a  time 
when  all  the  world  should  be  set  right,  and  there 
should  be  no  more  bitterness  anywhere. 

One  person  remained  ever  secure  from  Viola's  pet 
ulance  or  inconstancy.  Miriam  was  to  her  sister 
a  being  apart,  a  choice  and  exceptional  creation. 
There  might  have  seemed  to  be  something  of  obsti 
nacy  in  Viola's  attachment.  It  made  no  conditions. 
Whether  she  spoke  or  was  silent,  in  this  sentiment 
she  was  steadfast. 

On  a  certain  afternoon  in  the  autumn,  when  Viola 
sat  on  the  porch  in  the  shadow  of  the  old  vine,  her 
eyes  wandering  down  the  road,  she  became  conscious 
of  two  figures  that  moved  together  over  the  foot 
path  in  the  direction  of  the  house ;  two  figures  that 
strolled  without  excessive  deference  to  each  other's 
30 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

step,  yet  with  that  companionable  harmony  in  which 
it  is  not  difficult  to  detect  a  sentiment  of  accord. 

Viola  recognized  Miriam  at  once,  but  not  the  man 
with  her.  It  was  not  until  they  had  reached  the 
gate  that  something  in  the  man's  face  recalled  Miri 
am's  letter,  with  its  account  of  the  spring  visit  of 
Jack  Gerard. 

"  I  scarcely  knew  you,"  said  Viola. 

"  1  am  getting  old,"  Gerard  declared. 

"Careful!"  warned  Miriam.  "We  both  knew 
you  when  you  were  very  young." 

Gerard  found  Viola  rather  quiet,  though  not 
greatly  different  from  the  sort  of  young  woman  his 
early  knowledge  of  her  might  have  led  him  to  ex 
pect.  He  felt  her  watching  him  narrowly.  He  fan 
cied  her  eyes  spoke  some  resentment.  Possibly 
the  degree  of  this  resentment  might  have  been  meas 
ured  by  the  extent  of  the  friendship  she  saw  in 
Miriam's  treatment  of  him. 

Gerard  had  come  back  to  give  further  personal  at 
tention  to  certain  property  matters.  To  Miriam  he 
explained,  with  some  definiteness,  the  business  neces 
sity  for  his  visit ;  but  he  stayed  for  over  a  week,  and 
so  far  as  the  Winfield  family  was  concerned,  he  did 
not  talk  politics  with  the  Colonel  the  whole  of  the 
31 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

time.  Twice  they  had  had  a  four-handed  game  of 
whist,  Gerard  and  Miriam  suffering  defeat  at  the 
hands  of  the  Colonel  and  Viola.  It  was  an  inevitable 
defeat,  for  Gerard  played  listlessly,  in  spite  of  Miri 
am's  rebuking  comments. 

One  afternoon  Gerard  met  Miriam  at  the  post- 
office,  and  he  induced  her  to  walk  home  by  a 
circuitous  route.  He  pointed  out  many  spots  that 
recalled  his  boyhood,  and  assured  her  that  to  re 
visit  them  in  such  company  was  more  than  inter 
esting. 

She  remarked  that  he  had  changed  greatly  since 
he  went  away. 

"  I  dare  say,"  he  admitted. 

"  You  know  you  were  a  most  offensive  dude  when 
you  came  back  from  Yale." 

"  I  believe  you." 

"  And  now  I  think  that  perhaps  you  are  drifting  in 
the  other  direction." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  think  that  you  are  becoming  quite 
negligent  about  your  clothes?  Perhaps  you  are 
cultivating  a  certain  effect  for  political  purposes." 

"  I  hadn't  thought  so.  But  you  don't  expect  a 
man  to  keep  on  being  a  dude  after  he  gets  some 

32 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

sense,  do  you  ?  And  a  Congressional  dude  would 
be  out  of  the  question." 

"  Unless  it  might  be  in  a  community  where  wom 
en  voted." 

"  No,  no  !  "  laughed  Gerard.  "  It  is  a  matter  of 
whiskers  in  that  case.  Do  you  know,"  he  went  on, 
"  1  think  you  New  England  women  are  changing 
wonderfully." 

"  With  the  rest  of  them,"  Miriam  added.  They 
had  stopped  before  the  wreck  of  an  old  cabin. 

"  I  remember  that  old  Watts,  the  shoemaker,  used 
to  live  in  that  crib,"  said  Gerard.  "  Poor  old 
Watts !  What  became  of  him  ?  " 

"  Went  to  the  Legislature." 

"  Old  Watts  ?— no  !     What  a  joker  you  are." 

"  It  was  no  joke  for  old  Watts.  He  inherited  a 
lot  of  money  from  somebody,  was  nominated  by  an 
accidert  or  a  mistake,  and  got  himself  elected.  You 
never  saw  an  old  man  so  happy  or  so  ridiculous. 
Then  when  he  failed  to  get  a  renomination  he  quietly 
drank  himself  to  death.  Take  warning." 

"  I  was  going  to  say,"  Gerard  continued,  absently, 
"  that  you  New  England  women  don't  appear  to  de 
spise  clothes  in  the  transcendental  way  that  used  to 
be  the  fashion."  Miriam  was  peering  into  the  cabin. 

33 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  And  I  don't  think  you  believe  in  love  in  a  cottage 
any  more,  either." 

"  It  always  would  depend  on  the  cottage,"  said 
Miriam,  speaking  into  the  abandoned  hut.  "  Viola 
has  told  me  about  some  cottages  at  Newport  that  I 
think  1  should  like — with  ten  acres  of  lawn  and  two 
acres  of  greenhouse." 

"  Just  what  I  might  have  expected,"  complained 
Gerard,  studying  her  outline  against  the  dark  of  the 
door-way.  She  wore  a  trim  gown  of  cadet  blue, 
with  white  collar  and  cuffs,  and  a  little  shoulder 
cape  with  a  high  ruffle.  There  was  something  very 
fine  in  her  whole  personality,  he  thought. 

"  Just  what  I  might  have  expected,"  he  repeated. 
"  You  almost  make  me  afraid  to  ask  your  advice 
about  something  that  has  been  bothering  me  a  great 
deal  lately." 

"  Advice  ?  "  Miriam  glanced  up  at  him  with  frank 
surprise. 

"  It  does  sound  odd  ;  but  that's  the  word ;  and  if 
there  is  anything  in  the  fact  of  my  asking  you  that 
you  may  find  to  be  discreditable,  I  am  willing  to  ac 
cept  that  as  part  of  my  punishment." 

"  You  are  deliciously  mysterious." 

"  Well,  the  mystery  shall  stop  right  here."    He 

34 


4        A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

paused  a  moment.  "  To  begin,  then,  I  am  engaged 
to  be  married — but  I  am  not  in  love  with  the  lady  I 
am  engaged  to." 

Miriam  lifted  her  eyebrows. 

Gerard  could  never  have  fancied  how  stupid  the 
announcement  would  sound.  "  I  hope,"  he  contin 
ued,  "  that  I  feel  the  absurdity,  the  full  discredit  of 
being  in  such  a  position." 

His  listener's  perfect  attention  made  him  exceed 
ingly  nervous. 

"  She  is  a  widow — a  charming  woman  ;  any  man 
might  feel  honored  by  her — affection.  Well,  I  said 
something  to  her  one  day  that  she  took  more  seri 
ously  than  I  had  intended — wait  a  moment,"  he 
added,  when  Miriam  made  a  movement  as  if  to 
speak ;  "  I'm  not  going  to  plead  the  baby  act.  I 
liked  her  very  much — and  I  asked  her  to  marry  me. 
May  1  go  on  ?  " 

"  I'm  afraid  you  never  should  have  begun." 

"  But  I  have  begun,  and  I  should  like  to  go  on.  I 
wish  to  tell  you  that  she  accepted  me.  I  wish  to  tell 
you  that  very  soon  I  found  that  I  was  not  really 
in  love  with  her ;  that  I  was  so  sure  of  this  that  1 
couldn't  feel  that  it  was  honest  to  have  asked  her." 

He  fancied  that  she  was  laughing  at  him. 

35 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

t 

"  I  don't  think  I  am  a  coward,  and  I  haven't  any 
yearning  to  be  ridiculous  either."  He  added  this 
with  a  feeling  of  protest.  "  When  I  came  out  here 
in  the  spring  I  made  up  my  mind  to  think  the 
thing  over.  But  thinking  it  over  hasn't  been  a  suc 
cess  at  all."  He  turned  to  her  abruptly.  "  What 
should  you  do  if  you  were  I  ?  " 

"  I  only  know  what  I  should  do  if  I  were  the 
widow." 

"  What  should  you  do  if  you  were  the  widow  ?  " 

"  If  I  were  the  widow — and  knew — I  think  I  should 
despise  you." 

He  looked  at  her  hopelessly. 

"  Do  you  despise  me  ?  " 

Randy  Ellis  in  a  buckboard  wagon  hove  in  sight 
just  ahead  of  them,  and  Miriam  did  not  answer. 

"  I  shall  always  feel  sorry,"  Gerard  said,  a  mo 
ment  later,  "  that  you  couldn't  justify  me  in— 

"  In  changing  your  mind." 

The  sun  was  going  down.  But  then  the  sun  has 
gone  down  a  great  many  times.  How  one  feels 
about  it  depends  greatly  upon  purely  personal  con 
ditions.  Sometimes  it  sets  in  perfect  glory,  and 
sometimes  its  glory  seems  to  be  veiled  in  gloom. 

"  Of  course,"  said  Gerard,  "  I  realize  that  this  is  a 

36 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

somewhat  unconventional  confidence.  Perhaps  I 
should  not  have  bothered  you." 

"  I'm  sure,"  Miriam  remarked  in  a  tone  that  made 
him  feel  as  if  she  were  confirming  this  suspicion, 
"  that  I  wish  I  had  the  wisdom  to  counsel  you.  But 
how  should  I  know " 

"  That's  true,"  exclaimed  Gerard,  with  an  effort  to 
rescue  the  situation  from  utter  sombreness.  "  You 
are  neither  a  man  nor  a  widow,"  and  he  laughed 
uneasily.  "  But  you  must  at  least  forgive  me  for 
intruding  this  theme.  There  is  one  thing  about  my 
imbecility,  it  is  symmetrical.  There  should  be 
something  mitigating  in  that  circumstance.  What  a 
beautiful  sunset !  " 

The  sky  was  tumultuous  with  color.  Yet  Gerard 
had  seen  sunsets  that  he  liked  better. 


37 


IV 


THE  first  day  of  December  fell  on  a  Sunday,  and 
Congress  opened  on  the  second.  The  Capital 
presents  an  interesting  spectacle  when  the 
great  legislative  shop  takes  down  its  shutters  for  the 
resumption  of  business.  Something  in  the  opening 
of  a  new  session  affects  the  city  like  a  stimulant  that 
animates  without  exciting ;  for  Washington  never 
loses  its  poise,  nor  sacrifices  a  certain  self-possessed 
relation  to  circumstances  under  any  conditions  what 
ever.  It  is  as  much  without  violence  as  without  a  vote. 
On  Monday  morning  the  big  palace  on  the  hill 
began  to  hum  like  a  hive.  The  nation's  delegates 
buzzed  in  and  out  of  the  hive  at  the  little  southeastern 
basement  door — the  kitchen  entrance  in  the  great  fa 
cade.  It  is  a  shock  to  the  sentimental  observer  that  the 
delegates  should  not  mount  the  front  steps  in  a  more 
elegant  and  spectacular  way ;  but  it  is  notorious  that 
this  is  not  the  only  manner  in  which  the  delegates 
ignore  romantic  and  pictorial  requirements. 

38 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

Standing  in  the  outer  corridor  of  this  basement  en 
trance,  you  find  an  arched  frame  in  which  an  interest 
ing  portrait  gallery  appears  in  a  series  of  faces  and 
figures  covering  the  most  picturesque  range  of  types 
that  is  to  be  observed  anywhere  in  the  world. 

There  was  a  peculiar  animation  in  these  quickly 
changing  pictures  on  this  Monday  noon  when  the  men 
who  composed  the  new  House,  and  hundreds  of  peo 
ple  who  were  not  Representatives,  made  the  great 
hallways  hum  and  the  sleepiest  corners  of  the  old 
Capitol  take  on  an  air  of  resumed  business.  The 
members'  lobby  was  surcharged  with  political  energy. 
The  pages  hopped  and  chattered  like  a  lot  of  spar 
rows.  The  doorkeepers  strenuously  attacked  the  prob 
lem  of  remembering  the  faces  of  new  members,  and 
the  new  members  strove  with  varying  methods,  and 
with  varying  degrees  of  composure,  to  adjust  them 
selves  to  the  novel  conditions. 

When  the  turmoil  of  the  opening  days  had  in  some 
measure  subsided  the  most  self-possessed  man  in  the 
city  remained  as  before,  Speaker  Reed.  The  Speak 
er's  room  was  the  focal  point  of  much  of  the  early 
excitement,  but  Mr.  Reed's  mastery  of  all  possible 
human  complications  was  nowhere  more  significantly 
illustrated  than  in  those  intervals  when  the  Congres- 
39 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

sional  captain  might  entrust  the  wheel  of  the  legisla 
tive  ship  to  another,  and  find  time  to  glance  at  the 
thousand  and  one  things  that  demanded  his  attention 
in  the  snug  little  cabin  off  the  members'  lobby. 

But  first  I  must  tell  you  that  the  Winfields  found 
habitation  in  a  comfortable,  homelike  house  on 
Massachusetts  Avenue,  near  Thomas  Circle,  presided 
over  by  a  Mrs.  Barlow,  who  belonged  to  a  very  old 
and  a  very  good  family,  and  whose  house  betrayed 
evidences  of  a  respectability  that  was  neither  com 
plaining  nor  assertive.  The  fact  is  that  Mrs.  Barlow's 
father  had  been  a  Senator,  and  her  uncle  a  Minister, 
under  Lincoln. 

Mrs.  Barlow  was  a  nervous,  exact,  and  unhumor- 
ous  woman,  who  gave  the  impression  of  always  being 
in  process  of  changing  her  clothes ;  for  in  any  crisis 
it  invariably  happened  that  she  was  unable  to  do 
more  than  protrude  her  head  tentatively  from  a  door 
way,  with  one  hand  closing  an  imperfectly  buttoned 
gown.  Her  gray  hair  was  strained  back  uncompro 
misingly  from  her  shining  temples.  The  window  cur 
tains  throughout  the  house  were  looped  in  the  same 
undebatable  tension.  No  one  remembered  when  any 
thing  about  Mrs.  Barlow  or  Mrs.  Barlow's  house  was 
in  the  slightest  degree  different. 

40 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

The  boarders  at  the  Barlow  household  were  hetero 
geneous,  and  made  up  a  not  inharmonious  group ; 
that  is  to  say,  those  inhabitants  of  the  rambling  old 
house  who  were  at  all  gregarious  got  along  very  well 
together  on  short  acquaintance.  It  is  characteristic 
of  the  Capital  that  the  people  in  it  adjust  themselves 
to  new  people  as  patiently  as  they  relinquish  those 
who  must  go  away. 

Of  an  evening  you  were  likely  to  meet  in  the  par 
lor  the  more  socially  inclined  of  the  boarders,  con 
spicuous  among  them  Captain  W.  Freestone  Hartley, 
who  frequently  had  been  called  the  Prince  of  Wales 
of  the  Army.  The  Captain,  in  whom  a  likeness  to 
the  British  heir-apparent  was,  indeed,  remarkable,  had 
become  a  somewhat  mature  bachelor  without  devel 
oping  any  easily  detected  cynicism  toward  the  oppo 
site  sex.  The  Captain's  social  situation  appeared  to 
be  due  less  to  conviction  than  to  procrastination. 
He  had  given  serious  and  consecutive  thought  to  the 
matrimonial  question,  but  remained  without  clearness 
of  mind.  An  old  maid  seemed  too  formidable,  the 
self-possession  of  widows  frightened  him,  and  a  young 
girl  seemed  like  too  great  an  educational  responsi 
bility.  His  manner  had,  therefore,  little  of  that  satir 
ical  hopelessness  that  characterizes  men  who  may 

41 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

not  have  made  their  last  move,  but  who  have  given 
up  winning  the  game. 

Mrs.  Bannister,  who  came  but  a  few  days  before 
the  Winfields,  was  a  youngish  widow,  whose  manner 
suggested  a  comparatively  remote  bereavement,  and 
who  soon  made  known  her  interest  in  a  pension  bill, 
"  not,"  she  explained  to  the  Captain,  "  on  my  own 
account,  but  for  a  woman  whom  circumstances  have 
wronged  very  cruelly."  Mrs.  Bannister's  good  nat 
ure  assured  her  popularity  from  the  outset,  the  more 
certainly  because  her  vivacious  contentment  was  in 
different  to  this  result. 

Catlin,  a  department  clerk  from  Ohio,  filled  the 
r61e  of  younger  bureaucrat  without  opposition.  He 
was  a  well-groomed,  well-preserved  young  man,  who 
was  often  pinched  for  money,  but  was  never  known 
to  lack  an  opinion.  Catlin,  indeed,  took  occasion  to 
touch  life  at  many  points.  He  tingled  with  moder 
nity.  Captain  Hartley  had  been  heard  to  say  that  he 
thought  Catlin  had  everything — the  smoker's  heart, 
the  writer's  cramp,  the  fencer's  shoulder,  the  Wagner 
frown,  the  theatre  neck,  and  the  bicycle  face. 

Sometimes  little  Miss  Perrine,  who  was  in  the 
Congressional  Library,  would  play  on  the  old  piano, 
which,  though  it  had  not  been  tuned  since  1873, 

42 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

emitted  a  real  sparkle  of  melody  and  rhythm  under 
Miss  Perrine's  ivory  white  fingers. 

"  Do  you  know,  Captain,"  said  Winfield,  quizzi 
cally,  "  that  I  should  have  suspected  you  of  being  a 
ladies'  man  ? " 

It  was  on  one  of  the  most  heterogeneous  evenings, 
and  the  Captain  and  Mrs.  Bannister  were  becoming 
further  acquainted  in  a  nook  by  the  piano. 

"  1  hope,  Colonel,  that  you  don't  intend  that  in  any 
disrespectful  sense." 

"  On  the  contrary,  Captain,  I  envy  you.  And 
think  of  being  disrespectful  to  an  army  man.  It's 
inconceivable.  I  outrank  you  in  title,  Captain,  but 
then  I'm  only  an  upcountry  toy  soldier  from  the 
National  Guard." 

"Ah!  Colonel,  what  is  so  nice  as  a  nice  wom 
an  ? " 

"  Nothing,  my  dear  Captain  ;  nothing  but  another 
nice  woman." 

Mrs.  Bannister  chuckled.  "  He  could  not  do  better 
if  he  had  come  from  Virginia,"  she  called  over  to 
Miriam,  who  was  at  that  moment  talking  to  Jack 
Gerard.  It  was  the  evening  of  Gerard's  first  visit  to 
the  house. 

"  Something  tells  me,"  said  Gerard,  with  a  glance 

43 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

toward  Mrs.  Bannister,  "  that  I  don't  need  to  tell  you 
that  she " 

"  Is  your  widow,"  said  Miriam. 

"  No— she  isn't  my  widow  any  more.  We 
ended  all  that.  But  how  did  you  know  ?  She 
didn't " 

"  No,  she  didn't ;  it  was  sheer  sagacity  on  my 
part." 

"  Easy  to  guess,  though,  if  she  said  she  knew 
me " 

"  Why  do  you  wish  to  rob  me  of  the  credit  of  a 
real  divination  ?  "  asked  the  girl. 

"  You  are  capable  of  any  witchery." 

"  None  that  you  seem  afraid  of." 

"  You  don't  know  me.     I  am  very  timid." 

"  1  don't  think  she  would  say  that  of  you." 

"  Now  you  are  severe." 

"  You  are  always  tempting  Providence." 

"  Or  the  Fates — they  were  feminine." 

"  And  there  is  safety  in  numbers." 

Gerard  looked  at  her — at  her  profile ;  she  had  been 
talking  to  him  at  the  elusive  angle  of  forty-five  de 
grees.  He  wondered  whether  it  was  twice  as  hard  to 
guess  a  woman  from  half  her  face  as  from  the  whole 
of  it. 

44 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  You  don't  look — vindictive,"  he  said,  quietly. 

"  Vindictive  ? " 

Then  he  saw  the  whole  of  her  face. 

"That  isn't  precisely  the  word,"  he  pursued, 
"  though  I  did  wish  to  express  the  idea  of  persistent 
cruelty.  I  haven't  made  you  understand  me — that  is 
to  say,  the  case." 

"  You  don't  either  of  you  seem  to  be  feeling  at  all 
gloomy  about  that." 

"  N — no.  We  were  too  good  friends  before  it  be 
gan  to  be  bad  friends  afterward.  1  suspect  that  you 
think  a  little  less  of  me  because  I  seem  to  be  taking 
it  so  lightly." 

"  1  haven't  analyzed  my  feelings." 

"  You  haven't  stopped  to  think  that  the  absence  of 
gloom  on  my  part  might  arise  from  a  sense  of  justice 
done  to  her,  and  to  myself,  and  to  another  feel 
ing — 

"  You  almost  seem  to  be  trying  to  justify  yourself." 

"  Almost  seem  ?  Won't  you  believe  me,  1  am  try 
ing  to  justify  myself." 

"  But  why  should  you  ?     I  wish  you  wouldn't." 

"  If  you  insist  on  it  I  shall  be  ruthlessly  complacent 
from  this  time  forth." 

"  Jack !  "  called  Mrs.  Bannister  to  the  young  Con- 

45 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

gressman,  as  their  eyes  met,  "  I  have  been  wanting  to 
see  you  so  much.  I  have  a  very  important  bill  that 
you  are  to  help  me  with." 

"  Delighted,  I  am  sure,  Harriet." 

"  You  see,  1  have  begun  work  promptly,  be 
cause  I  want  to  rush  the  thing  through.  Not  that 
I'm  in  a  hurry,  but  the  other  widow  is." 

"  I  have  to  admire  your  enthusiasm,"  remarked  the 
Captain,  a  little  later  in  the  evening,  with  a  glance 
that  had  a  reasonable  degree  of  admiration  in  it. 
"  And  you  know  so  well  how  to  communicate  it." 

"Oh,  I  shall  communicate  some  of  it  to  you,  Cap 
tain,  if  I  find  that  you  have  any  influence  in  the 
House.  But  I'm  afraid  your  leave  of  absence  will 
expire  presently,  and  then  you  won't  be  of  any  use 
to  anybody." 

"  Cruel,  cruel  woman !  You  don't  deserve  to  know 
that  I  have  saved  up  three  months'  leave  and  am  go 
ing  to  take  my  fourth  month  on  next  year." 

"  How  good  your  country  is  to  you." 

"  Are  you  a  new  woman  ?  "  the  Captain  asked, 
when  the  company  had  left  them  with  the  parlor  to 
themselves. 

"  No — not  quite  new.  But  I'm  not  an  antique, 
either.  Have  you  been  trying  to  classify  me  ?  " 

46 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  That's  about  it." 

"  I  think,  Captain,  that  you  had  better  classify  me 
as  simply  practical.  1  am  terribly  practical." 

"  You  make  me  a  little  afraid  of  you  when  you 
talk  like  that." 

"Oh,  1  am  very  harmless,  too." 

"  Yes,  I  have  no  doubt,  but  are  you  looking  out 
for  the  future  ?  " 

"  So  you  think  it's  time  I  began  !  "  The  widow 
laughed  softly.  "  That  reminds  me  of  what  I  said  to 
Major  Tetley  the  other  night.  '  Major,'  I  said,  '  you 
are  not  providing  for  the  future.'  '  Whose  future  ? ' 
said  the  Major.  '  Why,  her  future,'  1  said.  '  But 
there  isn't  any  her,'  snorted  the  Major.  '  Ah !  that's 
the  trouble,  Major,'  1  said, '  there  should  be  a  her. 
What  has  the  United  States  been  framing  pension  laws 
for  all  these  years,  if  you,  a  Union  soldier,  are  doing 
nothing  to  leave  a  widow  to  your  grateful  country? '" 

"  But  you  weren't  willing  to  help  him  out,  were 
you  ?  "  demanded  the  Captain. 

"  Of  course  not.  I  am  the  most  impersonal 
woman  in  the  world.  Besides,  I  consider  myself  en 
tirely  too  young  to  marry — again." 

"  Perhaps  you  don't  believe  in  love  at  second 
sight,"  mused  the  army  man. 

47 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  Of  course,  I  can  understand  the  Major's  position 
precisely.  I  have  become  so  confirmed  in  the  habit 
of  not  proposing  that  1  have  almost  given  up  hope  of 
ever  being  able  to  break  myself  of  it." 

"  And  1  have  become  so  accustomed  to  refus 
ing •• 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  dare  say  you  illustrate  that  modern 
feminine  principle  of  natural  rejection.  Well,  when 
a  woman  says  she  won't,  sometimes  she  won't. 
But  beware  of  the  haughty  modern  attitude,  my  dear 
Mrs.  Bannister.  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall 
be  married." 

At  which  the  widow  laughed  softly  again,  and  re 
warded  the  Captain  with  a  twinkle  that  struck  him  as 
superior  in  quality  to  anything  he  ever  before  had 
observed. 


48 


AUNT  LYDIE  JANE  usually  kept  aloof  from 
the  parlor  gatherings,  preferring  the  quiet  of 
the  Winfield  sitting-room  on  the  second  floor, 
where  she  could  stitch,  read,  or  ruminate  in  quiet 
comfort.  Her  relic-hunting  and  souvenir-gathering 
occupied  most  of  her  leisure  and  her  thoughts.  The 
Capital  was  a  mine  which  she  worked  without  fatigue 
or  disenchantment. 

She  invaded  the  Smithsonian  in  a  glow  of  almost 
scientific  ardor.  By  dint  of  enthusiasm  and  persua 
sion,  and  Professor  Mason's  sense  of  humor,  she  even 
gained  the  privilege  of  access  to  some  of  the  cases, 
and  handled  Massachusetts  specimens  with  rapture 
and  envy.  Professor  Mason  marvelled  at  the  range 
of  her  information  in  matters  related  to  archaeology 
and  ethnology.  "  You  would  make  an  excellent 
curator  for  a  museum,"  he  said  to  her. 

Her  invincible  good-nature  carried  her  past  all  ob 
stacles  to  an  interview  with  General  Greely,  whom 

49 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

she  found  in  the  library  of  the  War  Department,  and 
who  was  very  patient  throughout  her  inquiries  as  to 
certain  indexes  and  records  of  the  Civil  War. 

"  O  Miriam !  "  she  cried,  one  day,  in  front  of  the 
old  Corcoran  Art  Gallery,  "  it  would  be  delightful, 
wouldn't  it,  if,  when  they  finish  the  new  gallery,  we 
could  get  one  of  these  lovely  lions  for  our  front 
yard  !  " 

On  another  afternoon  Miriam  found  her  again  ab 
sorbed  in  "  When  His  Hair  Turned  Gray,"  and  gave 
vent  to  her  amused  astonishment.  "  Hasn't  his  hair 
turned  gray  yet,  Aunt  Lydie  ?  What  a  time  it  is 
taking.  He  must  be  pretty  well  advanced  in  years 
by  this  time." 

"  Miriam  !  "  exclaimed  Aunt  Lydie,  with  an  enthu 
siasm  which  Miriam  knew  could  have  but  one  origin, 
"  did  I  tell  you " 

"  Another  find,  Aunt  Lydie  ?  " 

"  A  triumph,  Miriam.     Look  at  that !  " 

Miriam's  plump  and  enthusiastic  aunt  had  quickly 
produced  from  the  recesses  of  a  box  on  the  mantel  a 
fragment  of  granite  that  tottered  in  her  affectionate 
palm. 

"  What  is  it,  Aunt  Lydie  ?  " 

"Can't  you  guess? ': 

50 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"Haven't  an  idea." 

"  Why,  a  piece  of  the  Monument,  of  course !  " 

"  The  Monument  ?  " 

"  Isn't  it  grand,  Miriam  !  You  know  I  was  down 
there  this  afternoon  and  just  by  the  luckiest  chance  I 
saw  a  little  tippy  piece  of  stone  just  ready  to  break 
off,  about  as  high  as  this  ceiling  from  the  ground.  I 
suppose  the  weather  had  made  it  crumble  somehow. 
Do  you  know,  my  heart  just  gave  a  thump.  But  I 
tried  to  be  calm,  and  looked  at  it  from  several  points 
without  letting  any  one  notice.  Then  I  saw  a  boy, 
and  I  said  to  him,  '  Boy,'  I  said, '  haven't  you  got  a 
putty- blower  or  a  bean -shooter,  or  something  ? ' 
'  No,  ma'am,'  he  said.  It  was  aggravating,  but  I  said 
to  him,  '  Could  you  get  one  if  I  gave  you  the 
money  ? '  '  Yes,  ma'am,'  he  said.  And  so  I  gave  him 
ten  cents,  and  pretty  soon  he  came  back  with  a — 
putty-blower  I  guess  it  was.  '  Now,'  I  said,  '  you  see 
that  tippy  piece  of  stone  up  there — I  want  you  to 
blow  at  it  with  your  blower  and  blow  it  off.'  You 
must  understand,  Miriam,  that  it  was  just  ready 
to  drop.  Somebody  would  surely  have  it  anyway. 
And  the  boy  blew  at  it  several  times  until  I  was  all 
upset  with  nervousness.  Then  off  it  tumbled ! 
And  just  as  it  struck  the  pavement,  out  came  the 
51 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

elevator-man  !  You  could  have  blown  me  over  with 
a  blower !  But  I  was  perfectly  calm,  and  standing 
over  the  stone  I  said  to  the  boy,  '  Here's  five  cents 
for  you/  I  said — it  was  a  good  deal,  wasn't  it — but  I 
was  a  little  excited,  and  that  piece  of  stone  is  worth 
fifty  dollars  if  it's  worth  a  cent !  " 

"  Well,  Aunt  Lydie,  it  will  be  a  good  thing  for  us 
if  the  police  don't  discover  this." 

"  Miriam,  don't  be  foolish  !  I  don't  believe  you 
half  appreciate  what  a  grand  souvenir  this  is." 
Aunt  Lydie  fondled  the  fragment  with  the  ardor  of 
a  connoisseur.  Miriam  envied  her  the  inexpensive 
joy.  "  If  I  could  only  get  something  of  George 
Washington's!  I  believe  they  have  most  of  his 
clothes  locked  up  somewhere,  and  I  don't  suppose 
they  would  be  within  my  means  anyway.  By  the 
way,  did  I  tell  you  that  Randy  Ellis  promised  to 
bring  me  something  from  his  cruise  ?  " 

"  I'm  afraid,  Aunt  Lydie,  that  Randy  won't  get 
very  far  on  his  adventurous  voyage.  He  has  written 
to  father  asking  him  to  get  him  off  at  Newport 
News.  He's  tired  of  being  a  marine." 

Randy  had  indeed  made  a  start  toward  realizing  his 
long-cherished  ambition.  When  he  looked  over  the 
fence  at  his  father  and  said,  "  Pop,  I  guess  I'm  goin'/' 
52 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

the  old  man  muttered,  without  looking  up,  "  Waal,  I 
guess  I  can't  prevent  yer,  Randy,  if  yer  want  t'  be 
such  a  fool."  And  Randy  found  his  way  to  New 
York,  where  he  enlisted  on  the  Maine,  which  was  fit 
ting  out  at  the  Brooklyn  yard. 

At  first  he  was  much  delighted  with  his  new  life, 
and  he  might  have  continued  in  his  contentment  had 
it  not  been  his  fate  to  have  a  quarrel  with  another  tall 
fellow  from  Connecticut.  Big  Meach,  a  stalwart  and 
pugnacious  blacksmith,  was  the  terror  of  the  ship, 
and  he  resented  the  superior  inches  of  Big  Ellis, 
whose  slighter  angularity  placed  him,  for  purposes 
of  pugilism,  in  a  somewhat  lower  class. 

One  day  when  some  of  them  went  to  Coney 
Island  and  had  their  pictures  taken  at  a  "  tin-type 
factory,"  as  Meach  called  it,  there  was  another  quar 
rel  with  Meach  which  resulted  in  Randy's  visit  to  the 
hospital  that  night.  There  was  another  disagreement 
on  the  day  when  Meach 's  Brooklyn  cousin,  a  pretty 
girl  with  a  loud  voice,  came  down  to  see  him ;  and 
Randy  always  felt  that  this  was  the  most  unjust  of 
all  of  Meach's  injustices. 

Things  had  gone  from  bad  to  worse  in  the  mat 
ter  of  Meach  when  Randy  wrote  a  pathetic  letter  to 
the  Colonel.  "  I  hope  to  Heaven  you  can  do  some- 
53 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

thing  to  get  me  out  of  this,"  he  pleaded ;  and  when 
he  got  his  discharge  at  Newport  News,  he  was  as 
happy  as  he  had  been  in  breaking  away  from  North 
Pines. 

It  was  in  the  early  period  of  the  Winfields'  Wash 
ington  experience  that  Isaiah,  the  handy  man  of  the 
Barlow  household,  seemed  a  little  perplexed  when 
he  told  Miriam  that  there  was  a  man  "  askin'  fo' 
'  any  o'  th'  Winfield  people ; '  he  says  his  name  is 
Mister  Ellis. " 

"  Mr.  —   -  Oh,  tell  him  to  come  right  up,  Isaiah." 

But,  characteristically,  Randy  was  already  on  his 
way,  his  erratic  and  gusty  whistle  shaken  by  the 
movement  of  each  footfall.  When  he  loomed  in 
the  doorway  Miriam's  smile  had  as  much  of  amuse 
ment  as  of  cordiality. 

"  Randy  !     How  do  you  do  ?  " 

"  Glad  to  be  standin'  plain,  on  dry  land  again, 
anyway." 

"  And  so  you  got  tired  of  being  a  marine." 

"  N — no,"  muttered  Randy,  peering  for  a  chair, 
"  I  didn't  git  so  tired  o'  the  Navy  as  I  did  o'  some 
o'  the  people  in  it."  He  almost  joined  in  Miriam's 
laugh.  "  I  liked  the  ship  well  enough,  though  there 
was  a  kind  o'  sameness  about  it  after  a  while.  But 

54 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

y'  see,  I  got  inter  trouble  with  a  feller  named  Meach 
—Big  Meach  they  called  him,  and  he  was  pretty  big 
and  pretty  heavy  and  pretty  strong."  Randy  looked 
up  grimly  from  his  hat.  "  And  Big  Meach  just 
spent  his  time  a-huntin'  me  till  there  wasn't  no  fun 
in  the  thing.  I  kinder  made  up  my  mind  that  it 
would  be  better  if  I  could  get  away;  and  so  here 
I  am." 

Randy  placed  his  hat  on  the  floor.  "  But  what  d' 
yer  think,  Miss  Miriam — that  cuss  Meach  got  off 
somehow,  too,  and  I  believe  he's  in  this  town  now. 
I  want  t'  git  the  Colonel  t'  tell  me  how  t'  take  the 
Civil  Service  and  git  a  job  here  somehow.  An'  1 
ain't  goin'  to  stand  any  more  o'  Meach,  either — 
that's  fer  sure— 

"  Randy !  " 

llie  visitor  had  drawn  a  formidable  revolver  from 
one  of  his  coat-pockets. 

"  What  are  you  doing  with  that  ? "  Miriam 
started  toward  him. 

"  I  got  that  to  subdue  Meach  with.  But  yer  don't 
need  t'  be  afraid.  I  ain't  goin' t'  use  it  on  'im,  un 
less  he  makes  me  desperate.  The  worm  will  turn 
over  sometimes." 

Miriam  made  as  if  to  take  the  weapon  from  him. 
55 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  Randy !  you  leave  that  here  with  me.  If  you're 
not  able  to  punch  Meach's  head,  why  just — run." 

"  Waal,"  drawled  Randy,  with  a  grim  look,  "that 
shows  you  don't  understand  Meach.  When  Meach 
gits  interested  in  yer,  y'  can't  git  away  from  'im ! 
What  y'  goin'  t'  do  with  that  ?  "  Miriam  had  pos 
sessed  herself  of  the  revolver. 

"  I'm  going  to  keep  it  for  you.  You  know  we 
may  have  a  war,  and  in  case  you  may  wish  to  try 
the  Army  next  time,  this  will  be  useful." 

"  No — I  guess  I'll  try  bein'  just  a  plain  citizen  for 
a  little  while.  When  d'  yer  expect  the  Colonel 
in  ?  " 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  Randy  be 
came  a  regular  visitor  at  the  house  on  Massachusetts 
Avenue.  "  I'm  about  wearin'  a  path  t'  this  house," 
he  used  to  say. 

The  young  women  counted  Randy  among  the  di 
versions  of  the  winter ;  and  of  diversions  there  were 
many.  It  was  a  winter  with  skating,  either  with  the 
aid  of  artificial  ice  at  the  Convention  Hall,  or  with 
the  old-fashioned  sort  on  the  Potomac,  where  the 
gleaming  shaft  of  the  Monument  looked  down  upon 
a  merry  company  on  favoring  afternoons.  Miriam 
and  Viola  were  among  the  most  inveterate  skaters, 
56 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

Viola  often  setting  out  alone,  and  haunting  the  most 
unfrequented  spots  in  her  silent  moods.  Miriam  on 
several  occasions  found  her  sister  skating  where  the 
ice  was  threateningly  thin.  To  a  frightened  warning 
she  answered  only  with  her  perplexing  contralto 
laugh. 

Gerard  had  accompanied  them  on  one  occasion 
when  they  went  over  in  the  morning.  Miriam's 
passion  for  the  open  air  interested  and  sometimes 
distressed  him,  though  he  sought  to  accommodate 
himself  to  what  he  called  her  strange  mania  for 
walking. 

"The  Capital  seems  to  have  made  a  hit  with 
you,"  he  said  one  day  when  a  fresh  wind  was  scur 
rying  through  the  avenues. 

",Oh,  1  am  delighted  with  Washington.  I  shall 
never  want  to  go  home.  Please  don't  hurry  with 
this  session." 

"  I  would  do  a  good  deal  to  please  you,  and  if 
you  say  so  I  shall  introduce  a  resolution  keeping 
Congress  in  session  during  the  whole  period  of 
our  terms." 

"  Thanks.     I  should  appreciate  that  so  much." 

"  Well,  I  am  bound  for  the  House  now.  Will  you 
come  ?  " 

57 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  I  should  like  to  if  you  will  walk." 

"  Haven't  you  discovered  that  they  have  an  excel 
lent  cable  service  in  this  town  ?  " 

"  But  I  like  to  walk.  And  all  of  you  Congress 
men  should  walk.  It  would  improve  your  disposi 
tions  and  the  quality  of  your  wisdom." 

She  made  him  climb  the  western  steps  of  the 
Capitol.  "  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  like  this 
wind  ?  "  he  demanded. 

"  I  think  you  are  sorry  you  came." 

"  Not  at  all,  if  you  mean  that  I  am  sorry  you 
came.  I  will  make  a  bargain  to  walk  to  the  House 
every  day,  if  you  will  come  with  me." 

"  Then  you  should  carry  a  dinner-pail  to  complete 
the  picture." 

She  did  not  make  the  bargain,  but  he  frequently 
took  walks  with  her  and  sometimes  to  the  Cap 
itol. 

"  Sit  down  a  moment,"  she  said  one  day.  "  1 
believe  you  are  a  little  ahead  of  school-time." 

When  he  hesitated  a  moment  she  laughed  merrily 
at  him.  "  Are  you  afraid  that  Mr.  Reed  will  come 
out  and  punish  you  for  truancy  ?  " 

"  I  don't  suppose  it  strikes  you  as  rather  droll  for 
me,  a  Representative,  and  you,  a  Representative's 
58 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

daughter,  to  be  seen  sitting  here  on  the  Capitol  steps 
at  high  noon  ?  " 

"  If  you  think  it  might  make  a  scandal  I'll  get 
up." 

"  Don't  think  of  it  if  you  enjoy  it  here.  Good 
view  of  the  new  Library." 

"  You  like  to  tease  me,  don't  you  ?  "  he  said  to 
her  one  February  afternoon,  when  they  had  reached 
Massachusetts  Avenue,  after  walking  from  the  Cos 
mos  Club.  "  And  1  wonder  whether  it  is  because  I 
am  particularly  good  game.  Do  I  really  afford  you 
a  great  deal  of  amusement  ?  " 

"  No,  I  can't  put  it  exactly  that  way.  I  shouldn't 
call  you  actually  an  amusing  person." 

"  1  hope  that  you  don't  mean  by  that  that  I  am 
something  of  a  bore  ?  " 

"  There  now,  Mr.  Jack  Gerard,  don't  beg  for  a 
soothing  compliment.  I  wouldn't  spoil  you  for  the 
world." 

"  I'm  afraid  you  are  spoiling  me — but  not  with 
compliments.  Hello !  Harriet !  "  Mrs.  Bannister, 
out  of  breath,  and  flushed  with  the  excitement  of 
the  legislative  chase,  met  them  at  the  door  of  the 
parlor. 

"  Jack  !  you're  just  the  man  I  want  to  see  !  " 

59 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  That's  flattering,  Harriet." 

"  You  know  that  the  bill  comes  up  to-night." 

"  Yes ;  isn't  everything  all  right  ?  Good-by,"  he 
added  to  Miriam,  who  was  slipping  away. 

"  It  was — I  hadn't  worked  all  winter  for  nothing, 
but  Mugridge  is  just  wild  about  that  warehouse  bill. 
He  knows  that  you  and  the  Colonel  are  interested  in 
that,  and  he  says  flatly  that  if  I  don't  pull  you  and 
the  Colonel  away  from  that  bill  he  will  go  up  to 
night  and  raise  the  quorum  question  on  the  pen 
sions." 

"  Friday,"  mused  Gerard.  "  And  what  do  you 
expect  me  to  do  ?  " 

"  Why,  let  me  pull  you  away  from  the  warehouse 
bill,  of  course." 

"  I'm  sorry " 

"  Now  wait  a  moment,  Jack,  until  I  explain." 

He  listened  attentively.  "  In  the  olden  time,  Har 
riet,  when  temptation  was  being  depicted,  the 
tempted  one  took  an  attitude  like  this,"  and  Gerard 
threw  himself  into  a  melodramatic  pose,  "while 
plausible  allurements,  accompanied  by  an  odor  of 
sulphur,  drifted  over  his  right  shoulder.  Whether  he 
kept  that  shoulder  cold  or  not  depended,  I  suppose, 
upon  his  nose  and  his  nerve.  Nowadays  it  is  all 

60 


You  like  to  tease  me,  don't  you 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

different.  The  tempter  comes  in  the  guise  of  a 
charming  lady,  with  no  crimson  about  her  save  in 
the  silk  lining  of  her  skirt,  which  she  has  an  artistic 
reserve  in  showing — a  charming  lady  asking  an  en 
tirely  unreasonable  thing  in  a  charmingly  reasonable 
way — 

"  Jack  Gerard !  You're  talking  very  silly,  and 
I'm  dead  tired,  besides  being  in  an  awful  hurry." 

"  Harriet,  I  simply  can't  do  it."  She  was  going 
to  be  scornful  when  he  called  her  back.  "  But  I'll 
tell  you  what  1  will  do."  She  listened  and  exclaimed, 
"  Splendid  !  Jack,  you're  a  genius  of  statesmanship. 
It's  only  a  question  of  time  when  you  will  be  Presi 
dent." 

"  Yes,  1  guess  that's  about  all,"  he  called  after  her. 


61 


VI 


GERARD  saw  Mrs.  Bannister  talking  to  Major 
Tetley  that  night  at  a  reception  given  by' 
Senator  Tiffin,  where  the  friendship  of 
Colonel  Winfield  brought  many  of  the  Massachu 
setts  contingent  together.  Mrs.  Bannister  called  Tif 
fin  one  of  her  Senators.  "  Deliciously  unsenatorial," 
she  said  of  him.  Catlin  thought  Tiffin  lacked  dig 
nity.  "  But,"  he  added,  "  Tiffin  fits  into  our  highly 
seasoned  and  extremely  indigestible  society."  Cat 
lin  always  spoke  of  "  our  society  "  in  a  large  and 
authoritative  way,  as  if  he  were  discussing  American 
institutions  with  Emperor  William. 

A  social  occasion  in  Washington,  unless  wholly 
unofficial  in  purport  or  association,  acquires  a  pict- 
uresqueness  in  its  scope  that  is  not  frequently  paral 
leled  in  any  other  quarter  of  the  globe  ;  a  fact  which 
appeared  in  the  instance  called  up  by  the  course  of 
the  present  unromantic  and  circumstantial  narrative. 

"  You  young  people  seem  to  be  in  command  to- 

62 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

night,"  said  Major  Tetley,  with  one  of  his  winning 
glances  at  Mrs.  Bannister. 

"  Yes,"  assented  the  widow,  maliciously.  "  It's  a 
sort  of  evening-out  party  for  Miss  Dottie  Tiffin, 
and  1  don't  see  how  you  came  to  be  invited,  Major. 
Do  you  know  who  that  is  over  there  by  Senator 
Simms  ?  " 

"The  Vice- President." 

"  No,  no !  on  the  other  side." 

"  Oh,  Count  Rudolf ! — a  nuisance." 

"  I  have  heard  of  him.     An  Italian  ?  " 

"  An  Austrian,  I  believe,  though  I'll  bet  the  lega 
tion  wouldn't  own  him.  Anyway,  an  adventurer, 
even  if  Mrs.  Arlington  has  taken  him  up." 

"  I  wouldn't  call  her  discriminating." 

It  was,  indeed,  a  miscellaneous  company.  Count 
Rudolf  himself  thought  so.  "  This  is  a  remarkable 
country,"  he  said  to  the  Major.  "  At  Newport  I  see 
a  girl  and  she  is  a  servant  in  one  of  ze  family  zere. 
I  come  here  to-night  and  mon  dieu !  she  is  a  Con 
gressman's  daugh-tere !  This  is  a  remarkable  coun 
try — so  quick  ze  change!  so,  vat  you  call — meex 
up  !  ha !  ha !  " 

The  Count  fluttered  about  with  much  dexterity 
during  the  evening,  dispensing  his  elaborate  compli 
es 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

£ 

ments  and  shop-worn  cynicisms.  "  Ah !  Mrs.  Ar 
lington  ! "  he  exclaimed  to  that  lady,  "  it  is  not  so 
much  what  a  woman  says  zat  makes  her  fascinat 
ing  in  conversation  ;  it  is  vat  ve  may  say  to  her." 

"  Hello !  "  Mrs.  Arlington's  gaze  fell  upon  a  lithe 
figure  in  a  noticeable  gown  of  lemon-colored  silk 
flecked  with  black  lace.  "  There's  Jerry." 

"  Jerry ;  who  ?  "  asked  the  Count. 

"  Jerry  Hamilton.  That  girl  made  a  hit  in  Lon 
don  last  season.  Her  husband  is  only  a  newspaper 
correspondent,  but  the  Lady  Maveling  set  took  her 
up,  and  they  tell  me  that  no  other  bride  had  any 
show  in  comparison." 

"  Jerry,  it  is  a  strange  name  for  a  woman,"  said 
the  Count.  "  I  have  not  heard  it  before." 

"  I  believe  her  name  is  Geraldine  or  something 
of  that  sort.  She  is  rather  pretty." 

Young  Mrs.  Hamilton  had  come  in  from  the 
music-room  with  Lieutenant  Landwell.  "  Just  like 
him,"  remarked  Mrs.  Arlington. 

The  crowd  in  the  door-way  thickened,  and  when 
Mrs.  Arlington  again  caught  sight  of  Mrs.  Hamilton 
that  young  woman  was  with  Colonel  Winfield,  and 
Miriam,  with  the  Lieutenant,  had  just  been  presented. 

"  I'm  sure,"  said  Winfield,  "  that  Miriam  wants  to 

64 


Hello!"  cried  Mrs.  Arlington,  "there's  Jerry." 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

ask  you  whether  it  really  is  true  that  you  used  to 
shoot  Indians  out  there  in  the  West  when  you  got 
tired  of  playing  marbles  with  the  cowboys." 

"  No,"  said  Miriam.  "  I  only  wanted  to  ask  you 
whether  you  ever  heard  anything  more  about  that 
man  with  the  awful  wife — you  know  whom  I  mean, 
the  cowboy  fellow." 

"  Oh,  Pink !  "  Jerry  Hamilton  laughed  her  merriest 
laugh.  The  thought  of  Pink  Loper  and  his  terrible 
wife,  whom  she  had  known  in  her  childhood  days  at 
the  Panther  Mine  and  on  the  ranch  :  who  had  tried 
their  fortunes  with  the  rifle  on  the  stage  of  a  Bowery 
museum ;  who  had  invaded  the  legitimate  drama 
with  Pink  as  business  manager,  and  who  in  the 
dark  hour  of  pecuniary  disaster  had  sought  to  join 
Buffalo  Bill's  show  in  Pink's  hope  of  meeting  Jerry 
again  in  London — the  thought  of  this  peculiar  pair, 
like  some  grotesque  creation  of  comic  opera,  always 
tempted  Jerry's  levity. 

"  Poor  Pink !  "  she  continued.  "  You  know  they 
went  back  to  Colorado  last  spring  after  spending  all 
their  money  on  '  Romeo  and  Juliet.' " 

Senator  Tiffin  soon  took  Miriam  away  to  the 
dancing-room  with  a  gay  crowd  of  the  younger  peo 
ple  following  after.  There  certainly  was  the  sparkle 

65 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

of  youth  in  this  occasion,  and  the  Colonel,  the 
youngest  man  of  his  years  in  Massachusetts,  was 
quick  to  respond  to  the  spirit  of  the  hour.  When 
there  was  an  overflow  set  from  the  dancing-room, 
Winfield  sprang  into  the  arena  with  Mrs.  Hamilton, 
and  to  the  fling  and  rollick  of  music  from  a  romantic 
light  opera  they  danced  one  of  those  lanciers  that 
make  you  forget  all  but  the  moment,  the  murmur  of 
merry  talk,  the  rustle  of  silk,  the  twinkle  of  bright 
eyes,  and  the  flash  of  flowers  in  women's  hair. 

At  midnight  Viola,  passing  with  Professor  Thor- 
ley,  was  startled  to  see  Count  Rudolf  talking  to 
Miriam.  She  was  so  deeply  affected  by  the  sight 
that  even  the  absent  -  minded  Professor  felt  the 
trembling  of  her  hand  on  his  arm.  If  the  Count 
could  have  seen  her  eyes  he  would  have  shrivelled. 

When  Viola  could  get  away  from  the  Professor 
the  Count  had  disappeared. 

"  Miriam ! "  cried  Viola,  in  a  tone  that  made  no 
disguise  of  her  excitement.  "  Where  is  that  man 
who  was  with  you  a  moment  ago  ?  " 

"  I  sent  him  for  some  water — you  know,  he's  a 
live  count !  What's  the  matter  ?  "  She  saw  the 
expression  in  Viola's  face. 

"  He  hunted  me  out,"  said  Viola,  inconclusively ; 

66 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  had  the  impertinence  to  be  introduced,  and  I  turned 
my  back  as  soon  as  I  could.  Miriam,  you  must  not 
see  him  again,"  and  Viola  clutched  her  sister's  wrist 
until  Miriam  winced.  "  He  is  the  brute  who  insulted 
me  at  Newport." 

They  moved  through  the  passage  to  the  main 
drawing-room. 

"  I  wish  we  could  go  now,''  muttered  Viola. 

The  Colonel  had  been  looking  for  them.  "  Let 
us  go,"  said  Viola,  in  a  quiet  tone  which  had  the 
flavor  of  a  command. 

"  You  are  tired,"  said  Winfield  to  Viola  in  the  coach. 

"  No,"  she  said,  and  did  not  speak  again  on  the 
way  home.  When  the  sisters  were  alone  Viola  ex 
claimed  without  preface :  "  I  have  watched  that 
man  and  I  know  what  he  is.  You  must  not  en 
courage  Count  Rudolf  —  you  must  not  speak  to 
him  again ! " 

"  Encourage  him  ?  I  can't  understand  your  anx 
iety,  Viola.  I  have  no  wish  to  see  him  again  and 
probably  sha'n't." 

"  I  hope  not,"  Viola  said,  quietly.  "  I  hated  to 
see  him  so  near  you,  and  to  see  you  even  seeming  to 
give  him  any  footing  of  acquaintance.  Who  pre 
sented  him  ? " 

67 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"Mrs.  Arlington." 

"  Adventuress ! " 

"  Viola !— the  General's  wife  !  " 

"  What  of  that  ?  Are  there  no  adventuresses  in 
official  society  ?  I  hate  that  snakey  woman." 

"  I  hope  you  won't  worry  about  me,  Viola.  I  am 
not  a  very  flirtatious  person,  am  1  ?  " 

Viola,  her  cloak  thrown  back,  stood  at  the  door 
for  a  moment  without  speaking.  "  1  shouldn't  need 
to  warn  you.  It  shines  out  of  him — he's  a  beast !  " 

The  intensity  of  her  sister's  feelings  were  scarcely 
a  surprise  to  Miriam.  The  mood  was  characteristic. 
Viola  either  loved  or  hated.  One  prejudice  was  as 
hard  to  anticipate  or  to  explain  as  the  other,  and  she 
invested  every  mood  with  the  sombreness  of  her 
own  inscrutable  nature.  Even  her  gayety  had  in  it 
the  touch  of  tears. 

There  could  be  no  doubt  that  Viola  hated,  or 
thought  she  hated,  the  Count,  yet  Miriam  could  not 
be  unconscious  of  something  in  Viola's  attitude 
which  had  more  than  the  elements  of  a  simple  aver 
sion.  The  resentment  seemed  disproportionate, 
though  Miriam  was  not  conscious  at  the  time  of 
any  doubt  as  to  the  natural  force  of  Viola's  feeling. 

There  was,  indeed,  nothing  in  the  situation  to  pre- 
68 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

pare  her  for  an  extraordinary  thing  which  happened 
before  the  end  of  the  month.  Walking  one  day  in 
the  Mall,  she  saw  Count  Rudolf  sauntering  with 
Viola.  Halting  for  a  moment  in  a  kind  of  stupor, 
and  reassuring  herself  as  to  the  identity  of  the  two 
figures  in  the  path  before  her,  she  turned  abruptly 
and  walked  hurriedly  home. 

An  hour  later  Viola  came  in.  Miriam  did  not 
hesitate,  but  crossed  the  room  and  placed  her  hands 
on  her  sister's  shoulders.  "Viola,  I  have  been  walk 
ing  in  the  Mall." 

When  Viola  turned,  Miriam  saw  that  she  was  very 
pale. 

"  I  shall  never  see  him  again,"  said  Viola.  With 
a  gesture  that  was  unanswerable  she  turned  to  her 
room  and  did  not  appear  again  that  evening. 

For  a  long  time  Miriam  sat  at  the  window  looking 
down  toward  the  Circle.  If  she  had  been  able  to 
solve  this  mystery  it  would  have  been  because  she 
was  able  to  read  the  most  puzzling  paradox  of  the 
human  heart.  If  she  had  been  able  to  explain  how 
a  woman  might  hate  and  yield,  it  would  have  been 
because  she  had  penetrated  the  veil  that  hides  the 
innermost  machinery  of  human  motive. 

Viola  had  said  that  she  should  never  see  the  Count 

69 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

again ;  but  within  the  week  Miriam  had  occasion  to 
know  that  he  accosted  her  without  visible  rebuff  in 
the  gallery  of  the  House,  and  that  he  walked  with 
her  as  far  as  the  cable  on  Capitol  Hill  before  she 
dismissed  him.  This  information  came  from  Ge 
rard,  who  was  utterly  astonished  at  the  incident  and 
placed  the  matter  before  Miriam  with  no  conceal 
ment  of  his  anxiety. 

"  She  is  a  bewildering  woman,"  said  Gerard. 
"  She  must  know  that  the  fellow  has  an  unsavory 
reputation." 

Miriam's  grief  shone  in  her  wet  eyes. 

It  turned  out  that  Winfield  had  seen  the  Count 
talking  to  Viola  in  the  House  gallery.  There  was 
something  characteristic  of  his  caution  when  dealing 
with  Viola  in  the  fact  that  he  contented  himself 
with  an  ostensibly  chance  allusion  to  Rudolf  in 
Viola's  hearing.  His  characterization  of  the  man 
was,  however,  without  ambiguity.  No  one  need 
have  doubted  his  actual  sentiments. 

On  a  certain  evening  soon  afterward,  Viola,  re 
turning  home  from  the  Avenue,  saw  in  the  light  of  a 
street  lamp  the  figure  of  the  Count.  She  sought  to 
avoid  him  by  crossing  the  Circle  at  a  sharper  angle, 
and  supposed  she  had  eluded  him,  when  a  ring 

70 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

at  the  bell  followed  her  own  entrance  into  the 
house. 

When  she  herself  swung  open  the  door  it  was, 
perhaps,  with  the  thought  of  sending  him  away; 
but  when  he  saw  her  he  made  no  hesitation  in  step 
ping-  into  the  hall,  and  she  led  him  into  the  parlor 
without  speaking. 

Colonel  Winfield  left  a  dinner  at  the  Metropolitan 
Club  early  that  evening  to  attend  to  some  letters. 
He  was  hurrying  up  to  his  room  when  he  caught 
sight  of  the  Count  in  the  parlor,  and  of  Viola  stand 
ing  near  him.  Turning  impetuously,  he  confronted 
the  uninvited  visitor.  A  sudden  anger  had  filled 
him. 

"  Pardon  me,  sir !  "  he  exclaimed  to  the  Count, 
who  had  turned  at  the  sound  of  the  footstep,  "for 
remarking  that  it  would  please  me  greatly  if  you 
should  never  enter  this  house  again !  " 

The  Count  almost  staggered,  but  retained  the 
outward  signs  of  self-possession,  reconsidered  an 
impulse  to  make  some  reply,  and  bowed  himself 
from  the  room. 

The  Colonel  turned  to  his  daughter. 

"  Viola,"  he  said,  with  an  effort  to  speak  quietly, 
"  I  have  tried  not  to  be  unreasonable  with  you.  1 
71 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

have  tried,  and  nothing  in  my  life  has  been  harder, 
to  remember,  when  you  have  crossed  and  worried 
and  defied  me,  that  you  are  my  daughter,  and  that 
I  must  be  patient;  that  perhaps  because  I  didn't 
understand  you  as  a  father  could  wish  to  understand 
his  daughter,  I  was  in  danger  of  doing  you  a  wrong." 
Something  tortured  his  throat.  "  But  it  seems  to 
have  been  ordained  that  you  should  be  a  grief  in 
my  life,  that  in  spite  of  every  effort  1  could  make 
something  should  always  put  your  purposes  against 
mine." 

She  had  not  said  a  word. 

"  You  have  heard  me  speak  of  this  foreign  hang 
er-on  ;  you  know  what  I  think  of  him.  You  know 
that  he  is  a  scoundrel.  And  yet  you  recognize — yes, 
and  receive  him.  I  find  him  here — I  don't  say,"  he 
went  on  when  he  saw  her  protest,  "  I  don't  say  that 
you  asked  him.  He  may  have  intruded  under  some 
pretext.  But  you  have  encouraged  him  in  some 
way.  You  seem  bent  not  only  on  annoying,  but 
on  shaming  me !  " 

He  could  see  her  anger. 

"  Are  you  through  ?  "  she  demanded,  coldly. 

"  No,  I  am  not  through,  now  or  ever.  I  do  not, 
and  1  shall  not,  relinquish  my  right  to  defend  you 

72 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

even  from  yourself,  Viola.  Do  you  understand 
what  you  are  doing  ?  " 

"But  you  don't  hesitate  to  insult  me!"  Her 
anger  stifled  her. 

"  Do  I  insult  you  when  I  protest  against  your 
interest  in  a  viper  like  that  ?  If  that  is  an  in 
sult " 

"  I  am  not  a  child,  to  be  berated  here  in  a  public 
parlor !  Even  my  father  might  remember — 

The  Colonel  had  stepped  closer  to  her.  "  Your 
father  remembers  always  that  you  are  his  daughter, 
and  he  commands  you  to  refuse  countenance  to  that 
man !  Do  you  understand  me  ?  " 

"  And  I  refuse  to  be  commanded  !  " 

"  Father ! " 

Miriam  had  almost  screamed  the  name.  Standing 
in  the  door  she  heard  Viola's  rebellious  words, 
and  saw  the  father's  trembling  hand  move  as  if 
to  strike  her. 

"  God !  "  he  gasped,  "  that  I  should  have  such  a 
daughter ! " 

Perhaps  it  was  the  thought  that  he  might  have 
struck  her  that  made  him  sink  quivering  into  a 
chair. 

Miriam  would  have  said  some  word  that  might 

73 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

have  drawn  them  together,  but  no  happy  inspiration 
brought  the  word  to  her,  and  torn  by  conflicting  im 
pulses,  she  had  to  see  Viola,  incontrollably  angry, 
beaten  by  the  storm  of  her  passionate  resentment, 
leave  the  room  in  a  silence  that  made  her  own  heart 
quake  with  dread.  She  felt  her  father's  fingers 
quiver  as  she  knelt  there  stupidly  beside  him,  and 
she  could  have  cried  despairingly  for  Viola  to  come 
back.  But  it  seemed  to  be  too  late. 


74 


VII 


A  WASHINGTON  winter  is  full  of  surprises, 
and  the  atmospheric  vagaries  were  never 
more  perplexing  than  during  the  winter  of 
1895-96,  when  even  the  Weather  Bureau  lost  its 
composure. 

But  especially  and  particularly,  this  was  a  winter 
of  wars  and  rumors  of  war — certainly  of  rumors,  of 
which  every  one  talked  before  Lent  set  in ;  when 
by  way  of  having  an  alternative  topic,  people  be 
gan  discussing  the  approaching  Presidential  conven 
tions. 

These  were  the  days  when  the  jaded  interest 
even  of  the  resident  Washingtonians  was  aroused 
by  thoughts  of  the  activities  behind  the  sombre  ex 
terior  of  the  State,  War,  and  Navy  building ;  when 
the  State  Department  became  invested  with  myste 
rious  and  impressive  possibilities.  Yet  the  scenes 
within  doors  might  have  given  a  shock  to  the  senti- 

75 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

mentalist,  for  the  vast  administrative  and  diplomatic 
machinery  moved  with  the  same  noiseless  motion  as 
at  any  other  time. 

The  Secretary  of  War,  for  example,  betrayed  no 
sign  of  that  excitement  which  appeared  in  the  head 
lines  of  the  newspapers.  Despite  the  pugnacious  and 
sanguinary  things  men  were  saying  in  print  and  out 
of  print,  there  was  not  the  slightest  evidence  of  flurry 
in  the  War  Department,  nor  in  the  demeanor  of  its 
indefatigable  chief,  Colonel  Lamont. 

"  I  was  over  to  see  Lamont  to-day,"  remarked 
Winfield  to  Miriam,  "  and  you  certainly  wouldn't 
know  there  was  any  war  talk  to  see  them  in  there. 
They  seem  to  know  how  to  take  in  a  Pickwickian 
spirit  the  things  that  other  folks  get  excited  over. 
It  certainly  is  a  good  thing  that  they  know  how  to 
keep  quieter  than  some  of  the  editors  and  some  of 
the  Congressmen." 

"  Same  in  the  Navy,"  said  Gerard.  "  They  are  all 
very  cool — as  cool  as  Olney.  1  had  a  talk  with 
Commodore  Melville— 

"  What  is  he  ?  "  asked  Miriam. 

"  Chief  Engineer  ;  remarkable  man  with  a  wonder 
ful  record — the  Jeannette  rescue  and  all  that — more 
than  a  man  of  iron,  a  man  of  steel,  wizard  of  the 

76 


The  Secretary  of  War. 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

engine-room.  Some  of  the  fellows  he  saved  in  the 
ice  called  him  a  brute — he  wouldn't  let  them  die. 
That  sort  of  a  man  fascinates  me." 

"  They  are  all  alive  over  there,"  continued  the 
Colonel.  "They  are  like  the  men  in  the  engine- 
room  of  a  big  ship  obeying  impassively  but  cou 
rageously  the  signals  from  the  bridge." 

"  And  what  role  are  you  playing  ? "  Miriam 
queried. 

"  Oh,  Gerard  and  I  are  only  seamen  in  the  Ship 
of  State,"  laughed  the  Colonel. 

"  With  Tom  Reed  for  boatswain,"  added  Gerard. 

"  Well,"  pleaded  Miriam,  "  if  you  can  arrange  it 
conveniently,  I  hope  you  won't  have  any  war." 

"I  promise,"  said  Gerard,  "not  to  climb  upon 
my  desk  in  the  House  and  shriek  for  Spanish  and 
English  blood,  straight  or  mixed." 

Nevertheless,  these  were  days  of  some  anxiety  to 
diplomatic  Washington.  Despite  the  outward  se 
renity,  a  nervous  tension  affected  the  life  of  those 
official  circles  which  were  touched  by  the  current  of 
international  affairs.  Venezuela's  controversy  with 
England,  and  Mr.  Cleveland's  message  asserting  the 
Monroe  doctrine  in  unequivocal  terms,  directed  new 
attention  to  the  distinguished  diplomatist  represent- 

77 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

ing  the  Court  of  St.  James,  Sir  Julian  Pauncefote, 
the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the  ambassadorial 
circles  at  the  Capital.  The  British  and  Spanish 
representatives  were  marked  for  much  observation. 

These  were  the  days  when  the  light  burned  late  in 
the  President's  room;  when  the  White  House  was 
the  scene  of  momentous  conferences  by  day  and  by 
night;  when  certain  visitors  entered  and  left  the 
building  with  a  quickened  step. 

Indeed,  these  were  the  days  when  the  diplomatic 
storm  centre  hung  very  close  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  whose  severe  routine  of  labor  felt  the 
added  strain  of  these  perplexing  and  momentous  con 
ditions. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  extent  to  which  private 
interest  affects  life  at  the  Capital,  that  Mrs.  Bannister 
used  to  dream  that  she  saw  the  President  bending 
over  her  pension  bill  as  if  to  sign  it,  and  then  won 
dering  whether  he  should  or  not ;  and  she  had 
dreamed  of  going  to  the  White  House  and  of  telling 
Mr.  Cleveland  that  this  was  the  most  spotlessly  de 
serving,  essential,  and  altogether  inevitable  bill  that 
ever  had  been  passed.  But  when  she  tried  to  fancy 
how  she  should  begin  when  the  President  looked  up 
inquiringly  at  her,  she  couldn't  find  a  word. 

73 


Commodore  Melville,  Chief  Engineer. 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

One  day  she  actually  yielded  to  an  impulse  to  visit 
the  President,  and  turned  into  the  White  House 
grounds,  her  heart  beating  a  little  quicker,  and  her 
face  becomingly  tinted  by  the  thought  of  her  own 
daring.  When  she  reached  the  foot  of  the  stair 
leading  to  the  offices,  she  saw  that  the  East  Room 
was  half  full  of  people.  Evidently  it  was  a  reception 
day.  It  would  be  impossible  to  get  at  the  President, 

anyway,  unless She  passed  into  the  East  Room, 

and  when  the  line  was  formed  took  her  place  in  the 
somewhat  grotesque  procession.  Fifty  feet  away 
was  the  President.  At  the  first  glance  she  began  to 
doubt  her  right  to  deliberately  dim  his  cordiality  by 
being  ridiculous — yes,  the  thing  did  begin  to  seem 
to  be  ridiculous.  By  the  time  the  President  was  only 
twenty  feet  away  she  had  begun  to  wish  she  hadn't 
even  entered  the  line,  though  there  was  no  reason 
why  she  should  not  go  through  so  perfunctory  a 
ceremony.  The  fact  was  that  she  felt  guilty  of  her 
original  design,  though  she  had  abandoned  it  thirty 
feet  away.  Just  then  she  became  conscious  of  a 
little  woman  in  black,  immediately  in  front  of  her, 
who  turned  a  colorless  face,  and  said, "  Do  you  know, 
I  am  dreadfully  nervous!  "  Whereupon  Mrs.  Ban 
nister  at  once  regained  her  composure,  fortified  the 

79 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

nerves  of  the  little  woman  in  black,  smiled  a  little  at 
her  own  recent  trepidation,  and  when  the  President 
took  her  hand,  behaved  in  a  manner  to  convince 
herself  that  no  trace  of  guilty  conspiracy  appeared 
in  the  face  she  turned  to  him. 

"  I  hope,  Colonel,"  said  Mrs.  Bannister  to  Winfield, 
after  narrating  this  mild  adventure,  "  that  you  won't 
let  the  Cuban  resolutions  prevent  you  from  remem 
bering  that  they  actually  get  around  to  my  bill  to 
night." 

"  Oh,  I  sha'n't  forget  you,  Mrs.  Bannister.  We 
must  pass  your  bill,  if  we  have  to  let  Cuba  go  to  the 
dogs." 

"  Well,  it  won't  hurt  Cuba  to  wait  another  day, 
and  my  widow  is  getting  so  anxious." 

"  Naturally.  Now,  you've  got  Gerard  on  the 
track  of  this  thing,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  I  should  say  so  !  Why  Jack  is  working  night 
and  day." 

"  What  are  you  two  plotting?"  demanded  Miriam, 
who  perceived  in  her  father's  face  an  anxiety  not  as 
sociated  with  the  pension  bill. 

"It  isn't  a  plain  plot,  Miss  Winfield,  it's  a  con 
spiracy." 

"  How  exciting  and  dramatic  !  " 

80 


Sir  Julian  Pauncefote,  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in 
Ambassadorial  circles. 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"It's  an  awfully  slow  drama  getting  a  bill  through 
Congress,"  sighed  the  widow.  "  There's  the  differ 
ence  between  real  life  and  a  play — in  the  last  act  of  a 
play  everybody  gets  something.  I  wish  Cuba  would 
sink  into  the  sea." 

But  Cuba  was  destined  long  to  be  a  topic  of  de 
bate  and  consideration  at  the  Capitol.  One  of  the 
first  messages  which  President  McKinley  handed  to 
Private  Secretary  Porter  related  to  the  pitiful  condi 
tion  of  things  on  the  war-devastated  island.  Mrs. 
Bannister's  pension  bill  was  duly  passed,  but  Cuba 
did  "  wait  "  many  a  day. 

"I  suppose,  father,"  said  Miriam,  "that  if  there 
should  be  a  war,  you  would  insist  upon  leading  a 
regiment." 

"  I  haven't  begun  to  worry  about  that." 

Miriam  knew  the  real  meaning  of  the  distress  in 
his  eyes. 

"  Are  you  still  fretting  about  her  ?  " 

He  turned  and  took  Miriam's  face  in  his  hands. 
"  I'm  afraid  I  must  always  fret  about  her." 

She  kissed  him,  and  said,  reassuringly :  "  It  will  be 
all  right." 

Viola  had  become  ominously  mute.  She  brooded 
alone,  smarting  under  her  father's  words.  He  had, 

81 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

she  thought,  needlessly  humiliated  and  belittled  her. 
His  arraignment  of  the  Count  was  insulting  to  her.  It 
was  in  resentment  of  her  own  chagrin  that  she  made 
it  possible  for  the  Count  to  see  her  again.  She  ad 
mired  the  manner  in  which  he  made  her  discomfiture 
a  matter  for  his  own  apology. 

"  I  would  rather  have  given  my  right  hand,"  he 
exclaimed,  "  than  have  had  you  suffer." 

He  had  made  her  believe  that  he  understood  her 
better  than  they,  and  indirectly  incited  her  rebellion. 
"  It  ees  too  bad,"  he  would  say,  with  the  appearance 
of  real  grief,  "  that  they  cannot  see  your  fine  nature. 
They  are  blind.  MonDieu!  it  ees  a  crime!  But  they 
do  not  know ;  we  must  not  blame  them — no  !  no !  " 
— he  would  defend  them  from  her  with  vehement 
eloquence. 

And  they  did  not  understand  him,  either,  she 
thought.  They  never  could.  They  did  not  know 
him.  They  believed  all  they  heard,  without  investi 
gation.  There  were  brilliant  qualities  in  him,  and 
qualities  of  sympathy  which  she  permitted  herself  to 
think  were  a  response  to  something  that  came  to  her 
in  the  French  blood  of  her  mother. 

Miriam  instinctively  felt  the  progress  of  this  sinis 
ter  courtship,  while  deluding  herself  with  the  hope 

82 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

that  Viola  would,  in  her  own  time,  emerge  from  the 
complication  as  from  one  of  her  moods. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  anything  might  have  pre 
pared  her  for  the  shock  which  came  one  afternoon  in 
March,  when  she  found  on  the  floor  of  the  sitting- 
room  a  crumpled  note  from  the  Count,  asking  Viola 
to  meet  him  at  the  Pennsylvania  station  at  seven 
o'clock.  "  We  shall  reach  New  York  in  five  hours," 
he  said. 

A  sense  of  horror  stole  into  Miriam's  heart.  A 
tragedy  was  opening  in  the  path  of  her  life,  and 
something  in  her  rebelled  against  its  harshness,  its 
deadliness,  its  vulgarity.  Why  should  it  be  permitted 
to  happen  now  that  chance  had  given  to  her  an 
instrument  of  defence  ? 

She  must  act  at  once  if  at  all.  To  speak  to  Viola 
was  impossible.  To  cross  her  in  such  a  crisis  would 
be  worse  than  useless.  An  appeal  to  her  father 
would  mean  a  terrible  scene  and  a  scandal.  Nothing 
would  restrain  him  from  seeking  and  attacking  the 
Count.  Miriam  thought  fora  moment  of  hurrying 
to  Gerard,  but  shrank  from  communicating  her  sis 
ter's  secret,  even  to  him.  And  why  endanger  Ge 
rard's  peace  ?  If  only  there  were  some  way  in  which 
she  could  act  alone ! 

83 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

She  ran  softly  to  the  landing  and  called  Isaiah. 
That  young  man  appeared  with  unaccustomed  alac 
rity,  as  if  something  in  Miriam's  voice  had  made  him 
feel  the  urgency  of  the  situation.  His  shining  face 
was  an  interrogation  in  brown  and  white. 

"  Isaiah ! " 

"  Yes,  Miss." 

"  Listen  to  me,  Isaiah,  and  you  mustn't  ask  me  any 
questions  about  it." 

"  Yes,  Miss." 

"  You  told  me  one  day,  Isaiah,  that  you  knew  a 
waiter  at  the  Hemisphere  Hotel." 

"  Yes,  Miss." 

"  You  must  go  to  him,  Isaiah,  and  find  out  for  me 
the  number  of  Count  Rudolf's  room." 

"  Yes,  Miss." 

"  And  you  used  to  be  a  coachman,  didn't  you, 
Isaiah  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Miss."  Isaiah's  wonderment  was  grow 
ing. 

"  Now  I  want  you  to  go  and  get  a  carriage,  a 
coupe,  somehow,  and  drive  it  yourself,  Isaiah,  into 
the  Circle,  on  the  north  side,  and  wait  until  I  come. 
Then  I  want  you  to  drive  me  to  the  side  entrance  of 
the  Hemisphere  Hotel.  You  understand,  Isaiah  ?  " 

84 


o 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  Yes,  Miss." 

"  And  I  want  you  to  wait  there  until  I  come  out, 
and  then  to  drive  me  back  to  the  Circle." 

"Yes,  Miss."  He  was  becoming  more  deeply 
dazed,  and  it  was  all  he  could  say. 

"  And  you  will  not  speak  a  word  to  anyone, 
Isaiah,  and  when  you  have  come  back  you  will  for 
get  that  you  have  done  it." 

"  Y— es,  Miss." 

"  Hurry,  Isaiah  !  You  are  sure  you  understand — 
Oh,  here  is  the  money.  Please  don't  make  any  mis 
take,  Isaiah — it's  very  important."  She  pushed  him 
out  of  the  room. 

Her  heart  had  begun  to  beat  wildly.  She  must 
make  no  mistake  now.  To  fail  in  any  particular 
would  be  ruinous.  In  her  imagination  the  Count 
stood  forth  as  something  mysteriously  despicable  and 
dangerous.  She  not  only  loathed  but  feared  him. 
Her  fancy  endowed  him  with  supernatural  wicked 
ness.  It  was  for  this  reason,  perhaps,  that  she  im 
pulsively  opened  the  drawer  of  the  table  and  took 
out  the  revolver  that  had  lain  there  since  the  day 
when  Randy  came  up  from  Newport  News,  and 
stood  there  in  a  moment  of  debate  with  her  fingers 
trembling  over  the  weapon. 

85 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

It  had  been  a  dismal  day.  In  the  morning  a  thin 
film  of  snow  covered  the  city,  and  snow  fell  fitfully 
during  the  morning,  melting  as  it  fell.  The  switch 
man  at  the  Peace  Monument  remarked  upon  the 
utter  badness  of  the  weather,  upon  the  utter  unrea 
sonableness  of  the  winter  as  a  whole,  and  was  in  his 
most  morose  mood.  In  the  afternoon  came  a  steady 
rain  that  washed  humanity  out  of  the  streets. 

The  weather  suited  the  mood  in  which  poor 
Miriam  in  the  coach  reached  the  Hemisphere  Hotel. 
She  climbed  the  stairs  leading  from  the  ladies'  en 
trance  with  tremulous  resolution.  She  never  could 
remember  what  immediately  preceded  the  moment 
when  she  stood  with  her  back  against  the  door  of  the 
Count's  room. 

The  Count  sat  at  a  table  by  the  window. 

"  Vat  ees  it  ?  "  he  asked,  with  his  head  over  his 
writing.  He  evidently  thought  she  was  a  bell-boy 
with  a  card  or  a  message.  When  he  did  look  up  his 
astonishment  was  in  proportion  to  the  novelty  of  the 
situation. 

"  Mees  Miriam,  vat — 

"  Please  be  seated,"  she  demanded,  with  a  frag 
ment  of  her  voice,  her  right  hand  hidden  in  the  fold 
of  her  cape. 

86 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  I  do  not  understand— 

"  I  must  ask  you  to  sit  down,  please,  and  to  remain 
seated,"  she  repeated,  with  all  the  firmness  at  her 
command.  But  she  was  trembling  under  her  poor 
attempt  at  calm,  and  the  revolver  tumbled  to  the  floor. 

"  Permit  me "  the  Count  began,  with  mingled 

irony  and  doubt,  moving  as  if  to  pick  up  the  re 
volver. 

"  Sit  down  !  "  she  demanded  again,  fumbling  for 
the  weapon.  "  I  have  something  very  important  to 
say  to  you." 

"  But,  my  dear  Mees— - 

"  Keep  quiet,  please,  until  I  have  explained  !  You 
are  writing  letters.  I  wish  you  to  write  one  for 
me." 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  Count,  a  little  amused  and 
much  perplexed. 

"  I  will  dictate  it,  if  you  will  permit  me." 

The  Count,  completely  puzzled,  prepared  to  write. 

"  '  My  dear  Viola.'  " 

"  '  My  dear  Viola  ' — remarkable,"  muttered  the 
Count. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  keep  my  appointment 
to-night.  I  am  called  out  of  the  country  and  must 
leave  at  once." 

87 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"Sacre  tonnerre!"  The  Count,  with  his  face  con 
torted,  half  rose  to  his  feet,  glared  at  Miriam,  and 
then  at  a  letter  which  lay  near  him  on  the  table. 
The  Count  had  just  read  this  letter.  It  was  brief, 
but  pointed.  This  is  what  it  said : 

"  COUNTY  OLD  MAN  : 

"  The  Bank  has  the  Papers  you  must  skip  the  town  to-night 
sure,  and  if  you  don't  take  to-morrow's  steamer  you  are  my 
definition  of  a  blasted  fool. 

"STEINWOLTEN." 

It  was  impossible  that  Miriam1  could  know  any 
thing  of  that  letter,  or  of  its  origin.  And  yet  there 
was  an  almost  incredible  coincidence  in  her  inter 
vention. 

"  But  my  dear  Mees  Miriam,"  expostulated  the 
Count,  with  growing  annoyance,  "  this  ees  ridiculous ! 
Vat  do  you  mean  ?  I  cannot  write  such  a  letter !  " 

"  I  am  sorry,"  said  Miriam,  standing  very  straight, 
her  lips  white,  the  revolver  in  full  view.  "  I  think 
that  you  must.  I  don't  wish  to  make  any  trouble." 
She  paused,  and  realized  that  she  was  less  fright 
ened  than  at  the  beginning,  though  she  was  inwardly 
praying  that  the  situation  might  now  demand  noth 
ing  more  of  her  than  getting  away.  "  I  think  it  will 
be  best  for  you  to  write  it." 

88 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

The  Count  looked  contemptuously  at  the  revolver. 
It  would  make  a  noise  to  begin  with,  and  the  girl 
might  faint ;  in  any  case  the  game  was  spoiled  ;  and 
trusting  to  avoid  a  scene,  the  Count  took  up  the  pen 
again. 

" '  I  have  not  deserved  the  honor  of  your  affec 
tion,'  "  Miriam  dictated.  "  You  may  sign  it '  Rudolf ' 
— just  as  you  signed  the  note  you  sent  to-day." 

"  Leetle  devil !  "  grunted  the  Count. 

"  Don't  seal  the  envelope,"  directed  Miriam.  "  I 
want  to  see  what  you  have  written — and  don't  get 
up — throw  it  to  me,"  and  she  picked  the  thing  from 
the  floor,  as  if  it  had  been  unclean,  continuing,  with  a 
new  courage  in  her  voice,  "  I  have  done  this  to  save 
my  sister,  but  I  have  saved  you  from  a  great  danger. 
If  you  are  a  wise  man  you  will  avoid  the  chance  that 
my  father  may  yet  hear  of  this,  and  leave  Washington 
at  once — on  the  seven  o'clock  train ;  it  will  get  you 
to  New  York  in  five  hours." 

"  Excuse  me,"  appealed  the  Count.  She  stood 
with  one  hand  on  the  knob  of  the  door  and  he  had 
arisen  without  protest  from  her.  "  Do  I  understand 
that  anything  vill  be  said  ? — or  that  this  letter  vill  be 
all  ?  " 

"  This  letter  will  be  all — if  you  leave  to-night." 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

The  Count  maintained  his  ironical  salute  as  she  dis 
appeared. 

Back  to  the  coach,  back  to  the  house,  to  the  sit 
ting-room.  In  all  the  journey  Miriam  had  but  one 
clear  thought — Viola  would  be  saved. 

The  revolver  she  replaced  in  the  drawer  of  the 
table,  and  having  left  the  letter  with  Isaiah,  fled  to 
her  room,  where  only  the  consciousness  of  an  impend 
ing  scene  in  the  drama  saved  her  from  collapse.  She 
had  forgotten  to  instruct  Isaiah  definitely  as  to  the 
delivery  of  the  letter,  but  Isaiah  was  equal  to  the 
emergency. 

"  They's  a  letter  on  the  table  fo'  you,  Miss,"  she 
heard  him  saying  to  Viola. 

"  A  letter,  Isaiah  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Miss." 

The  Count's  handwriting ! — a  letter  from  the 
Count !  Viola  tore  the  envelope  unemotionally, 
though  her  eyes  spoke  her  perplexity.  The  words 
stupefied  her  in  the  first  moment.  She  could  not 
believe  them.  The  Count  throwing  her  over !  Out 
of  her  stupor  came  a  rush  of  anger,  of  a  half-savage 
rage  that  put  a  hot  fire  in  her  brilliant  black  eyes. 
While  the  anger  blazed  in  her  brain,  the  room  grew 
dark. 

90 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

Miriam  heard  the  fall,  and  with  a  new  and  differ 
ent  terror  she  faltered  to  the  door.  Viola  lay  prone 
near  the  table,  her  loosened  blue-black  hair  shimmer 
ing  in  the  dim  light  and  partly  hiding  the  Count's 
letter.  Seeing  her  sister  there,  stricken  as  by  her 
hand,  Miriam  felt  her  courage,  until  that  moment 
unbroken,  utterly  give  way,  and  she  threw  herself 
despairingly  beside  the  fallen  form. 

"  Viola  !  Sister  !  "  It  was  on  her  tongue  to  cry 
"  Forgive  me !  "  and  to  confess  the  origin  of  the  let 
ter  ;  but  she  held  back  the  words.  "  Viola !  you 
have  hurt  yourself !  .  .  .  What  can  I  do !  what 
can  I  do  !  " 

There  was  no  response  from  the  white  face  on  her 
shoulder.  She  brushed  back  the  heavy  masses  of  hair, 
and  clung  appealingly  to  the  half-inanimate  body. 

"  Viola !  You  won't  grieve  at  anything,  will  you, 
without  telling  me  and  letting  me  help  you  ?  I'm 
a  stronger  comforter  than  you  think,  Viola.  Are 
you  feeling  better?  There,  there! — just  let  me 
help  you  to  your  room  and  care  for  you  for  a  little 
while." 

Viola  pushed  her  away,  then,  repenting  the  gesture, 
turned  and  clung  tremblingly  to  Miriam  for  a  mo 
ment. 

9t 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  Miriam,  you  are  a  good  sister,  but  I  wish  you 
would  leave  me  alone." 

"  But  not  here,  Viola !  " 

"  Let  me  sit  here  a  moment,  Miriam.  The  world 
is  better  to  you.  Let  me  stay  here  a  moment." 

Miriam  left  her  sitting  dumbly  at  the  table.  The 
world  had  gone  wrong  again.  And  all  was  irrepara 
ble.  "  I  was  born  to  be  miserable  when  others  are 
happy."  It  was  an  old  thought  coming  back  with 
new  momentum.  And  she  had  tried  hard  enough  to 
steal  some  happiness  from  life ;  but  life  had  grudged 
it  to  her,  had  taunted  her  with  it  and  taken  it  away. 
The  world  did  not  understand  her,  and  she  did  not 
understand  the  world.  The  blood  in  her  was  relent 
less,  carrying  with  it  the  sad  strain  of  her  mother's 
unhappy  nature. 

Her  mother ! 

That  strange  union  of  turbulence  and  of  sweetness, 
of  sunlight  and  of  gloom — that  inexplicable  woman 
whose  face  was  only  an  indistinct  memory  rising  in 
the  crises  of  her  life  like  that  of  some  attendant 
spirit  that  felt  its  kinship.  The  face  seemed  almost 
to  shine  faintly  beside  her  at  that  moment ;  a  sweet 
and  a  terrible  face,  longing,  threatening,  melting, 
hardening,  loving,  hating,  repelling — appealing. 
92 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

What  was  the  good  of  a  life  that  seemed  to  be  a 
mistake  ?  What  was  the  good  of  a  life  that  was 
worthless  to  its  owner  and  a  pain  to  those  who 
looked  upon  it  ?  Would  it  pay  to  go  on  battling 
with  this  legacy  of  bitterness  ? 

There  were  ways  of  stopping  it  all.  Viola's  eyes, 
in  which  the  fires  were  smouldering  now,  caught 
the  gleam  of  metal  through  the  incompletely  closed 
drawer  of  the  table.  She  drew  forth  Randy's  re 
volver,  and  held  it  without  repulsion  in  her  listless 
hands. 

How  much  of  a  sin  was  it  to  snap  the  ties  and  end 
everything  ?  Was  it  cowardly  to  be  afraid  to  live  ? 
Was  it  cowardly  to  hesitate  to  die  ? — How  many  in 
the  world  had  debated  this  question  in  hours  of 
lonely  agony ! 

How  sweet  it  would  be  to  end  the  struggle  in  an 
eternal  sleep !  One  supreme  pain  and  then— 

A  low,  irregular  whistling  came  from  the  hallway. 
Its  origin  could  not  be  misunderstood.  In  a  moment 
Randy's  angular  length  swung  through  the  door 
way. 

"  How  are  y'  Miss  Viola?     Is  the  Colonel  in  ?  " 

"  No,  Randy,  he  is  not  in."  She  spoke  in  the 
shadow  of  a  voice. 

93 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  Is  that  so  ?  I'm  sorry.  Bein'  no  session  t'  day 
thought  I  might  find  him  here.  Wanted  t'  ask  him 
about  the  Civil  Service  matter." 

Her  face  was  turned  from  him.  "  Randy,  I  wish 
you  would  go  away." 

"  Go  away  ?  "     He  looked  his  uncertainty. 

"  Yes,  Randy,  please  go  away.  I  am  not  feeling 
very  well,  and  I— 

"  All  right,  I'll  go — I'll  come  in  again  soon.  I 
want  t'  see  the  Colonel  about  that  thing.  Good— 
eh — good-by  !  "  And  he  stared  at  her  again,  as  if 
realizing  at  this  moment  of  his  going  that  her  appear 
ance  was  extraordinary.  As  he  drew  aside  the  por 
tiere  he  shook  his  head  slowly,  and  went  uncertainly 
down  the  stair. 

The  revolver  gleamed  in  the  drawer  where  Viola 
had  mechanically  dropped  it  at  the  first  sound  of 
Randy's  coming.  She  looked  at  it  again  now,  but 
could  not  touch  it.  The  dusk  deepened,  and  she 
sat  there  without  stirring.  House  and  street  were 
peculiarly  silent.  From  a  distance  that  seemed  im 
measurably  vast  came  the  deep  melancholy  note  of 
a  bell. 

She  knew  the  note.  It  called  up  the  image  of  a 
sombre  building,  a  red,  blind-faced  building;  the 

94 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

image  of  a  woman  on  the  steps  of  the  building,  a 
woman  whose  white  face  looked  from  a  whiter  linen 
frame  in  the  shadow  of  black.  .  .  . 

In  fifteen  minutes  the  bell  sounded  again — two 
strokes. 

Viola  was  writing,  her  hair  falling  about  her  face 
like  a  cowl.  Her  mother  had  been  reared  behind 
convent  walls.  There  would  be  a  fitness  in  the  step 
that  carried  her  whence  her  mother  came.  .  .  . 
Perhaps  this  was  a  destiny.  At  least  it  was  a  desti 
nation.  Miriam  should  know  when  she  read  these 
lines.  The  pain  to  them  would  soon  be  past ;  and  in 
that  moment  she  hoped  that  they  might  be  able  to 
think  some  good  things  of  her. 

The  Count — she  did  not  love  him.  .  .  .  No, 
her  first  impulse  had  been  true.  But  why  had  she 
let  him  come  into  her  life  ?  What  was  it  in  him 
that  had  mastered  her  ?  Heaven  only  knew  that. 
She  would  not  have  him  back.  Behind  him  there 
had  been  an  abyss.  .  .  . 

The  distant  bell  tolled  the  strokes  of  the  three- 
quarter  hour. 

Miriam  heard  Viola  go  to  her  room  ;  but  she  did 
not  hear  her  leave  it.     And  when  she  read  Viola's 
95 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

letter,  which  lay  on  the  sitting-room  table,  she  had 
no  suspicion  that  the  writer  was  at  that  moment  hur 
rying  impetuously  through  the  twilight.  A  sense  of 
loneliness  smote  her  and  wrenched  quick  tears  from 
eyes  that  ceased  to  see  the  lines  on  the  paper,  but 
that  saw  through  the  mist  a  shrouded  face  that 
bore  the  hurt  of  pain,  a  face  reflecting  the  grief  of. 
a  gloomy  soul,  a  face  that  already  seemed  to  have 
gone  forever. 

When  she  had  read  the  words  a  second  time  she 
yielded  to  an  impulse  to  go  to  Viola's  room.  No 
answer  came  to  her  soft  knock  at  the  door.  Per 
haps  Viola  had  cried  herself  to  sleep. 

Miriam  noiselessly  turned  the  knob.  The  room 
was  empty. 


96 


VIII 

MIRIAM  !  "  Aunt  Lydie  Jane  had  called  from 
the  stairs,  but  was  at  the  door  almost  be 
fore  Miriam  could  answer.  "  Success  at 
last,  my  dear  !  I  told  you  I  never  should  give  up." 

"  What  is  it,  Aunt  Lydie  ? "  Miriam  strove  to 
hide  her  tears  for  the  moment. 

Aunt  Lydie  was  feverishly  untying  a  bundle. 
"  And  what  will  you  say  to  this,  my  dear — mercy  ! 
what  a  knot — just  what  I've  been  wanting  so  long ! 
— searched  everywhere,  and  at  last,  at  last,  my  dear, 
I  am  rewarded.  There ! — and  George  Washing 
ton's,  too !  " 

Aunt  Lydie  was  holding  up  a  crumpled  pair  of 
trousers.  Poor  Miriam  faintly  smiled  through  her 
tears.  The  long  trousers  were  pitifully  modern. 

"  Why,  Aunt  Lydie,  I  didn't  know  that  Mr. 
Washington  wore " 

"  There !  "  and  Aunt  Lydie  seated  herself  abjectly. 
"  If  I  didn't  forget  that  he  wore  bicycle  pants !  The 

97 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

idea !  And  that  man  charged  me  seven -fifty  for 
them,  too !  But  I'll  take  them  back !  I  won't  be 
cheated !  And  I  was  so  happy  over  this !  "  Aunt 
Lydie  looked  sadly  at  her  purchase.  It  was  a  shat 
tering  blow.  "Isn't  it  a  pity!"  Then  her  eyes 
wandered  to  Miriam's  face.  "  Miriam !  you  have 
been — my  dear !  what  is  the  matter  ?  " 

Miriam's  lip  was  quivering.    "  Viola  has  gone !  " 

"  Gone  ? " 

It  was  almost  all  there  was  to  tell.  In  the  quiet  of 
that  night  Miriam  heard  her  father  pacing  the  floor 
of  his  room.  It  was  a  bad  night  for  the  Colonel. 

The  days  that  followed  were  dark  days  in  that  lit 
tle  group.  When  Easter  came  with  its  lovely  spring 
sunlight  a  change  had  crept  into  the  life  of  Winfield 
and  his  daughter.  The  Colonel  and  Miriam  had 
painful  reminiscent  talks  together,  and  had  settled 
back  into  the  old  ways  that  had  existed  before  Viola 
came  back  from  Newport.  A  sense  of  the  inevita- 
bleness  of  the  thing  which  had  happened,  and  a  feel 
ing  of  its  finality,  softened,  perhaps,  the  sting  of  their 
grief,  but  could  not  remove  the  consciousness  of  be 
reavement.  The  Colonel's  hair,  prematurely  touched 
with  frost,  seemed  to  take  on  a  deeper  white. 

It  was  on  Easter  Monday  evening  that  Gerard 
98 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

came  in  and  found  Miriam  playing  soft  music  at  the 
piano.  He  had  noticed  a  difference  in  her  since 
Viola  went  away. 

"What  is  so  pleasant,"  he  said  quietly,  "as  to 
hear  music  that  one  likes  played  by  a  person  whom 
one " 

"  I'm  afraid  I'm  not  playing  very  well  to-night," 
she  said,  as  if  she  had  not  perceived  the  direction  of 
his  remark. 

"  I  have  been  enjoying  that  Grieg  very  much,"  he 
said.  Then  a  moment  later,  his  arm  resting  over 
the  piano,  his  face  near  hers :  "  Do  you  know,  I  was 
thinking  this  morning— 

But  how  should  I  know  what  he  said  after  that  ? 
He  was  speaking  very  low,  and  her  answers  certainly 
were  not  declaimed.  And  if  I  did  know,  is  there  not 
a  nice  question  of  delicacy  as  to  whether  I  should 
tell  ?  Some  things  should  be  sacred. 

There  would  be  room  for  speculation  in  the  visi 
ble  thing  that  happened.  One  might  guess  certain 
conditions  from  the  movement  with  which  presently 
he  turned  away  from  the  piano  and  strode  the 
length  of  the  room,  returning  again  to  find  that 
she  had  arisen.  There  was  room  for  guessing  in 
his  attitude  as  he  spoke  to  her  across  the  table 

99 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

that  stood  between  them.  The  least  imaginative 
person  might  have  suspected  his  distress  as  he  walked 
the  length  of  the  room  again  to  turn  quickly,  at  last, 
and  face  her  on  the  near  side  of  the  table.  Her 
eyes  were  no  enigma  as  they  fell  before  his.  It  is 
extremely  doubtful  (though  this  line  of  speculation 
is,  strictly  speaking,  excluded  by  the  present  condi 
tion  of  decorous  silence)  whether  her  lips  said  a 
single  word.  At  last  when  he  caught  her  hand  and 
demanded— 

But  this  surely  is  violating  our  delicate  terms. 
Let  it  suffice  that  when  the  Colonel  came  in  there 
existed  definite  occasion  for  that  fine  self-possession 
with  which  he  did  not  appear  to  notice  them. 

"  How  are  you,  Gerard  ? "  he  said,  rather 
brusquely,  as  he  went  on  with  his  letter. 

"  We  simply  won't  dare  say  a  word  to  him  with 
his  hat  on  like  that,"  whispered  Miriam. 

"  I  suppose  not."  Gerard  studied  the  absolutely 
horizontal  situation  of  the  Colonel's  hat,  which 
Winfleld  absently  continued  to  wear. 

"  Now  if  there  should  happen  to  be  anything 
pleasant  in  that  letter  from  North  Pines — there  it 
goes ! " 

A  faint  smile  was  perceptible  on  Winfield's  face 
100 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

and  his  hand  mechanically  pushed  his  hat  into  an 
acute  angle. 

"  Do  you  think  it  is  quite  safe  now  ?  "  demanded 
Gerard,  grimly,  and  audibly  enough,  until  the 
Colonel  looked  up. 

"  Oh,  it's  entirely  safe  now,"  laughed  Miriam. 

"  Colonel,"  said  Gerard,  with  an  attempt  toward 
the  effect  of  addressing  the  Chair,  that  somehow 
was  not  so  successfully  off-hand  as  he  had  expected, 
"  we  have  here  a  concurrent  resolution  of  which  we 
wish  to  ask  your  approval.  It  is  a  measure  for  the 
consolidation  of  two  lives,  and  it  is  entirely  non- 
partisan." 

The  Colonel  had  stared  at  them  suspiciously  at  the 
first  word.  He  had  regained  his  self-possession  be 
fore  the  last  word  came,  though  there  was  a  little 
tremor  in  his  voice  as  he  said,  "  Well,  I  suppose 
there  is  nothing  for  me  to  do  but  say, '  Bless  you, 
my  children,'  or  something  of  that  sort.  And  this 
explains,  Gerard,  why  you  have  been  away  from 
so  many  of  those  Committee  meetings !  " 

A  peculiar  whistling  sound  came  from  the  hall 
way.     It  was  not  properly  the  regulation  whistle  of 
Randy,  but  unquestionably  the  sound  was  emitted 
by  that  eccentric  gentleman. 
101 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

"  He  was  to  take  the  Civil  Service  examination  to 
day,"  said  Miriam.  "  I  wonder  how  he  got  along. 
He'll  be  awfully  broken  up  if  he  doesn't  pass." 

Randy,  in  the  doorway,  presented  an  extraordi 
nary  spectacle.  His  face  was  bruised  and  bleeding, 
though  retaining  a  grotesque  composure,  and  his 
clothes  gave  evidence  of  having  been  in  the  presence 
of  an  energetic  destructive  force.  His  collar  remained 
attached  by  the  back  button  only. 

"  Randy  !  "  Miriam  and  her  father  had  exclaimed 
in  chorus.  Gerard  suppressed  a  laugh. 

"  Colonel,"  said  Randy,  solemnly,  "  I  came  right 
here— 

Miriam  could  not  wait  to  get  the  details.  "  You 
didn't  get  this  at  the  Civil  Service  examination,  did 
you  ?  " 

"  No,"  returned  Randy.  "  Y'  see  I  just  met 
Meach." 

The  Colonel  struggled  with  a  convulsion  of  merri 
ment. 

"  I  met  Meach — and  it  was  the  old,  old  story,  only 
I  think  maybe  a  little  more  so,  this  time." 

"  He  must  have  been  very  rough  with  you,"  said 
the  Colonel,  sympathetically. 

"  He  was ;  and  I  did  my  best  t'  reason  with  that 
102 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

man,  too.  And  I  want  you  t'  take  this  thing  up, 
Colonel.  That  man  is  dangerous.  I  don't  care  for 
myself,  but  that  man  ought  to  be  put  away.  The 
first  thing  you  know " 

"  You  poor  fellow !  "  cried  Miriam,  "  let  me  at 
tend  to  your  bruises." 

"  Anyway,"  muttered  Randy,  "  I'm  kinder  tired, 
and  I'll  sit  down  a  minute  if  yer  don't  mind." 

"  Colonel  Winfield !  "  The  shout  was  accom 
panied  by  Mrs.  Bannister's  gay  laugh  on  the  stairs. 

"  What's  happening  now  ?  "  queried  the  Colonel, 
who  turned  to  confront  the  grotesque  phenomenon 
of  Mrs.  Bannister  dragging  Captain  Hartley  through 
the  hall. 

"  Here's  a  good  joke,  Colonel !  "  cried  Mrs.  Ban 
nister,  charmingly  flushed  with  her  efforts,  "  I'm 
going  to  marry  the  Captain !  " 

"  No — you  don't  say  ! — I  never  should  have  sus 
pected  it ! "  grinned  the  Colonel. 

"  You  old  fabricator,"  snorted  the  Captain. 

"  Miriam !  " 

Aunt  Lydie  halted  in  embarrassment  at  the  door 
on  discovering  that  the  room  was  full  of  people. 

"  If  one  more  thing  happens,"  declared  Winfield, 
"  I  shall  believe  that  the  whole  affair  was  arranged." 
103 


A  CAPITAL  COURTSHIP 

Aunt  Lydie  decided  to  go  on:  "What  do  you 
think,  Miriam  ?  I  found  that  man  again,  and  he 
says  that  he  made  a  mistake,  that  those  trousers 
were  worn  by  George  the  Third !  " 

"  Gerard,"  remarked  the  Colonel,  "  I  had  no  idea 
that  so  many  things  not  set  down  in  the  Congres 
sional  programme  possibly  could  happen  in  this  quiet 
town." 

And  though  he  could  not  explain  the  thing  at  the 
moment,  Gerard  caught  Mrs.  Bannister  scrutinizing 
Miriam  and  himself  with  a  remarkably  sagacious 
expression. 


104 


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